Naruto, Persona Series 1. Chapter 1

I OWN NOTHING

As a Persona fan I just couldn't stop myself from doing this. Those games are done to make you care about the characters you interact with and feel like you're friends with them. Chie is my main gal, and both Junpei and Yosuke became bros from another mother for me.

Important note: The summary has stated that this is an AU with different franchises merged into this world for a Persona based story. It may sound like a mess but I plan to go through with this and have more than some good ideas on how to work with this. And the franchises that will be used are as follow: One Piece, Kill LA Kill, Bleach, Blazblue, and Guilty Gear. Yeah, this will have one/two Persona user per franchise for this crossover, with Naruto as the lead because, if you know me, you know I like to use the blond in settings that would have him develop properly, unlike canon.

Oh, other characters from other franchises will appear as cameos, meaning that they will be Personas for Naruto to use.

Some of these Persona users will be shown in this first chapter, and others will be shown in future chapters. What I will say is that the official pairings won't be shown until later… and I may go the harem route for Naruto, as if you should be surprised. What I do ask is for tolerance to my choices. This is my fic, I write for my amusement, and if any of you tries to force me to choose any girl that I don't agree with, the please be respectful of my choices or be understanding of why I wouldn't use said girl.

I will also use only Naruto from his own universe for this story to avoid having too many characters shoved into the story at the drop of a hat, Kishimoto did that and we all know how much that failed. So please don't make an ass out of yourself by flaming because I have different opinions to yours, ok? But do not worry, I the villains of the Naruto-verse did give me good ideas for this fic: Shadow Boss battles.

Now, onwards and upwards to this new story!

**XXXXXX**

Unusual trip

The clacking of a train pierced a foggy night. Outside of the window nothing but the darkness of the night could be seen along a strange gray mist that danced around the car. All around the moving cart was nothing but mist. A young man opened his eyes to find himself in the comfortable VIP room with a bar on one side of the car he sat on. He found himself seated on a red couch on the opposite side to the bar, with a large and elegant coffee table separating him from two other figures. The walls to the left and right were lined with shelves that carried bottles of all shapes, sizes and colors containing not alcohol, but dancing blue flames. A rather calm and practiced voice drew the youth's attention to the red sofa before him.

"Oh, it would seem we have a visitor!"

It was an old, rather creepy looking man with a softly smiling girl standing by his side, all giving the youth a very welcoming stare.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room." the man said. He was dressed in a simple three piece black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. And his black eyes looked as though they are attempting to pop out from their sockets past his foot long nose. Grey hair adorned messily the sides of his bald head and behind his pointy ears. It was like staring at a mixture of bat, mosquito and man.

"My name is Igor, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. This is my assistant Tabitha," Igor gestured with a gloved hand toward the pale girl to his side. She had to be in her mid-teens with a slender figure that carried the rights amount of fat in her creamy-skinned body, with a chest and behind that weren't too big or too small. She was dressed in a blue long-sleeved knee-length button-up dress with the top two buttons opened to show a black shirt underneath with a dark blue tie, and beneath the dress she had black thighs with blue knee-length boots. Her hair was a platinum white and pulled back in a simple braid that nearly reached her peachy bottom, with two bangs framing her heart-shaped face. She nodded to the youth with a faint smile and he noticed her yellow eagle eyes.

Tabitha just remained where she was and Igor continued, "Please. Come join us while you're here, why don't you?"

The kid stood up before Igor, who then pulled out a deck of cards from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Tell me, do you believe in fortune telling?" He asked as he shuffled the deck earnestly. "It's been so long since I've read the cards for someone." The kid watched seven cards fly all on their own from the top of the deck and land face down on the table. "So, to whom do I owe the pleasure of unveiling the future to?"

The kid replied, "Naruto… Uzumaki…"

A light shone on the kid, showing him to be a sixteen year old of average height with a school uniform. It was a red school jacket with a black button-up shirt underneath, with matching red baggy pants, and brown school shoes. On his head was a red baseball cap with a gold leaf pin in the middle of his forehead, keeping a messy mop of golden hair in check. His eyes were a deep cerulean, and his face carried six scars, three on each cheek, that resembled whiskers.

"Hmm… I see." Igor seemed intent on engraving the kid's name into his memory. With a satisfied nod, he turned his attention to the cards. "Let's take a look, shall we?" Igor snapped his right hand and one of the cards flipped upright. "Hmm… another Fool…"

Naruto's eyes narrowed themselves, "What did you call me?" he then snapped his head to the car's decoration, "Wait, where am I?!" he asked, falling back into his seat from the shock.

Tabitha put a hand to cover her mouth, a soft, melodic giggle leaving her lips, "He is livelier than any other guest, master."

Igor nodded, his eyes closed and his smile spreading until it almost literally split his face in half, "He truly is. We normally get deadpan stares from most kids, but this is both new and entertaining."

Naruto snapped at the man, "Hey, you still insulted me!" he shot back, with a finger aimed at the elder man.

Igor chuckled, "I did not such thing. I was just stating your card…" he showed Naruto the image of a card with a carefree individual walking with a dog behind him, "The Fool, a carefree life filled with new beginnings. It suits you. However…" here he waved his hand, and another card flipped, "The World… You will need the power that you as a part of the whole must build. That has been the story of every individual I have met… But…" Igor waved his hand again, and the final card was flipped, "The Devil…" his smile disappeared, replaced by an expression that made it seem like the card had insulted him by singing about his huge nose, "I hope you succeed, Naruto Uzumaki." The man said in a manner that fit the cryptic and bizarre place he was in.

Tabitha smiled at him sweetly, "We will aid you in your quest." She clapped her hands once, and when she pulled them apart a light emanated from the place her palms collided. The light glowed blue once, and in her hands was now a clipboard with a paper and a long white feather. "It is our wish that you succeed in the next trials, make no mistake of that."

She handed him the two objects, to which he could only stare, "Why would you even need my help?"

"It is sadly not a choice of ours, but it is a choice that we are granting you." Igor replied, "If were you to decline, you would be able to walk away freely without remembering this." He said while keeping his smile. "However, in exchange for helping you through the coming trials, we simply request that you take responsibility for all your choices and actions. By signing this contract, you agree to these terms, and you will be welcomed to the Velvet Room with open arms any time you like."

Naruto stared at the paper, and felt like his hands moved on their own, but could feel his very being telling him to write his name. He gripped the feather with determination and swiftly wrote his name. Once done, Tabitha smiled and took the clipboard from him, holding it to her chest.

Igor looked over the youth, as if measuring him up for the first time. He then closed his eyes and chuckled again. "You remind me of some young people I used to hold contracts with, always willing to face that which would terrify others by remaining unknown to all souls." Naruto could feel his eyes getting heavier and Igor noticed. "It would seem our time is up. We will discuss these matters further when we meet next."

Then the blond only remembered falling back.

XXXXXX

"Attention all passengers: we will now arrive to our final destination."

"Gah!"

Naruto woke up, gasping and wondering why everything was so dark until he noticed that his baseball hat was covering his eyes. The blond groaned and pulled his hat up, taking in the light that his only accessory covered for his nap. He was in a train, alone, sitting on a now empty car with no material possessions except for his clothes, wallet, a few papers, and a large suitcase with wheels and a handle sticking out. The handle belonged to a large steel bat that weighted several pounds, perfect for practicing swings and gain some muscle.

Wiping his face with one hand woke him up slightly, and so did rubbing the sand off his tired eyes. It was already night, and the only light he could see was from the train's light bulbs. A long trip on a train with nothing entertaining to do and every passenger having left hours ago didn't make him feel like throwing a party, but he was now where he wanted, there was supposedly someone waiting for him, and he really needed to get some blood flowing in his legs.

Once up, Naruto moved to the gates and found the small train station to be as empty as the car. He walked through it, finding that it was fitting for a small city, rather minimalistic and with little to no souls walking around. The blond adjusted his cap, and moved forward, dragging the suitcase with the heavy bat in it. The moment he stepped foot out of the station he found an empty parking lot, no sign of life with the exception of a the trees adorning the streets, and a billboard which read "Welcome to Inari City" accompanied by the picture of a white fox with a red handkerchief around its neck.

Naruto turned his suitcase around, and sat on it, sighing, "Man, first that weird-ass dream, and now alone with no idea of where to go. This is already a busy day." The sound of a vehicle speeding alerted him of someone arriving at the station, "Huh, it seems that it won't be such a bad day after all."

What he saw was… something he didn't expect. Maybe it'd be a bad day after all. The one who arrived in a small bus that could fit about a dozen people with the driver not included was what one wouldn't imagine to see behind a wheel. It was a large man with bulging muscles, a black muscle shirt to show off his ridiculously muscular arms, a red opened jacket tied around his waist, white tight pants, red toe-steeled boots, and a spiky hairdo with a long ponytail. He had a rather unfriendly face, and a red metal headband with the words "ROCK YOU" written on it, but with a knife judging by the fact the words were written with cuts.

The man opened the small bus' window and shouted, "Hey, brat!" he shouted in a throaty, deep voice more fit for a heavy metal singer, "Are you Naruto Uzumaki?!" the blond nodded dumbfounded, "Then get your ass in gear and inside this bus, pronto!" he said, making the blond blink again at such a language from a man who had to work for a school. So he did as told, without wanting to anger someone that looked capable of ripping another human in half like a toothpick.

But Naruto had some choices when he stepped into the bus:

-Talk back to the Rude Man

Sit down silently

"Who are you?"

XXXXXX

Naruto tried to open his mouth, but the Rude Man sneered, "You will have a busy day. I had to pick you up, so sit down and enjoy the ride." Naruto kept his mouth shut and sat at the end of the bus.

XXXXXX

Talk back to the Rude Man

-Sit down silently

"Who are you?"

XXXXXX

"Good to see you're smart." The man said calmly.

XXXXXX

Talk back to the Rude Man

Sit down silently

-"Who are you?"

XXXXXX

"None of your business." Was the Rude Man's reply.

XXXXXX

Naruto sat at the back where four seats were nailed to the wall and floor. To the sides of the small bus where two sets of two seats on each side, making it twelve seats without counting the Rude Man's. Said ponytailed man finally spoke, "This is going to be a long day, kid, so you will have to deal with a lot of crap. Just do your best to shut up and see what you can do about it." He then reached into his pockets, and pulled out a cassette with a crown symbol on it, "However… I know I can come out as an asshole at some points." He put the cassette in the bus' stereo and put the volume to the max, "Do you enjoy Freddie Mercury's singing?"

And once again he was given options:

-"The best bad guy, huh?"

Nod

"Sorry, I don't know him."

XXXXXX

The Rude Man smirked, "You have taste, brat." Naruto could see the man's good side for the first time.

XXXXXX

"The best bad guy, huh?"

-Nod

"Sorry, I don't know him."

XXXXXX

"You need more guts and to speak up, kid. But I'll let it pass for now." The man said and grinned when the music echoed in the bus.

XXXXXX

"The best bad guy, huh"

Nod

-"Sorry, I don't know him."

XXXXXX

"Then buckle up and learn of good music." The Rude Man said, but through his gruff exterior Naruto could see a faint smile, showing he may not be as bad as he looked.

XXXXXX

The trip through the streets of the small city was spent listening to "I want to break free" by Queen. The trip was uneventful until Naruto arrived to a five story building. The bus made its way through the open gates between brick walls, with one of them carrying a metal plate with "Byakuya High Dorm" written down in bold capitals and the symbol of a cherry blossom tree underneath the name. The Rude Man parked in front of the dorm and actually got up, grabbing a large suitcase that Naruto hadn't seen, and waited for the blond to get out.

"You'll be sleeping here, kid." The man said calmly, "I'd say to make yourself at home, but-"

"That's enough, Frederick." Someone called outside the bus, and Naruto saw another blond with blue eyes, a rather warm face, and his hair done in a mid-back ponytail while long bangs framed his face. This man was a head shorter than the driver, had reading glasses, a white suit with a blue button-up shirt and a black tie, and a scowl aimed at the taller, muscular man.

The Rude Man, now identified as Frederick, growled at the sight of this newcomer, "You know I hate being called by my name, Boy Scout."

Naruto watched the blond man growl at the nickname, "And you should mind your manners and stop calling me that… Anyway, where is he?" Frederick simply hooked his thumb to Naruto, and the blond man finally noticed the kid with a warm smile, "Ah, our new transfer student. I am Ky Kiske, the Chairman, and it is a pleasure to meet you."

Naruto bowed his head respectfully and replied as enthusiastically as he could, "It's a pleasure too, sensei."

The blond man chuckled, "Good to see you're in high spirits. And now I guess I'll introduce you to the dorm. Fred- I mean, Sol, you know where to go." The bigger man scoffed an affirmation, grabbed the large suitcase like it was weightless, and moved past the blond suited man who smiled at the student… after he and the man now also known as Sol exchanged glares, "I see you still have your old school's uniform. That's all right…" he said, motioning for Naruto to follow him, which he did, "Here at Byakuya High we decided to allow you to wear your uniform considering your situation…" he paused a bit, "I hope I'm not troubling you."

Naruto shook his head, "No problem, sensei."

The man smiled, "Good. Back on track…" he said and he and Naruto walked through the doors to the dorm, finding an ample living room with a large coffee table and several couches around it, a much larger dining room with a table for about twenty people and a counter behind it. There was also a counter at the other side of the living room for Naruto to check in, which he did.

Naruto wrote his name, officially settling his stay in this dorm, and then a voice rung from one side of the floor, "Chairman."

The two blond men turned to see a young man jogging at them and stopping before Naruto, examining him and making Naruto feel small since this guy was a head taller than him. The newcomer had bright candy orange colored hair set in a mop of spikes, brown eyes that were set in a narrowed state that made it seem like he glared 24/7, and a face the likes that said he only heard of smiling from fairy tales. This redhead was clad in a normal black school uniform: a long coat with golden buttons carrying a cherry blossom petal motif carved in each of them, black pants, and brown shoes. There was also a gold arm-band on his left biceps.

"Ah, Kurosaki, what took you?" the chairman asked with a smile. "I wished to introduce you and the others to the transfer student, but I guess you'll do for starters."

The redhead turned to the red clad blond, "So this is him, huh? Well, name's Ichigo Kurosaki, just don't make a joke about my name and we'll be fine." He said with a stern glare… or perhaps his face just couldn't show joy. Either way, the atmosphere felt heavy at those words, and the poor Chairman sighed at the harsh student's attitude.

"Always charm and smiles, huh?" someone new asked.

It was a girl, a tomboy. The girl stood tall and proud, though she wasn't tall, in fact she was rather short. She had short feathery black hair with a red streak between azure eyes moving to her left, a tomboyish harsh face that didn't take off any charm and actually added beauty in a strange warrior-way, and she had a nice body too. Her outfit consisted of a black school sports jacket which had white sleeves, a white blouse adorned with a red loosened tie, a black miniskirt, long white socks, and red and white sneakers. Her only accessories consisted of a red fingerless glove on her left hand, and a gold arm-band on her left biceps.

Ichigo growled, "What're you doing here, Ryuuko?"

She grinned cockily, "Making sure your endless joy doesn't become a bother for the new guy." She shot back with a smirk and turned to the blond, "Anyway, I'm Ryuuko Matoi, and just to lay the rules in case you haven't heard them I'll be clear: when it's lunch you better get down early or you will have only yourself to blame if someone takes all the good food."

Naruto nodded, finding Ryuuko to at least be more approachable than Ichigo, who glared at her before rubbing the back of his head, "Anyway, what's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, it's a pleasure."

"All right," Ichigo started, "I'm at the first floor, room five, in case you need my help." He turned around, "Also, Chairman, it is getting late so I'll be back soon when I'm done with something." and with that he left.

Ryuuko nodded, "I also have to go. Enjoy your stay, Naruto."

The Chairman chuckled nervously, "You'll have to forgive their manners, but you may end up being friends with them. So far they're the only ones living in this dorm along you, but more people may join in, hopefully." He said and made a motion for Naruto to follow him, "I'll just take you to your room so you can at least get some sleep. Tomorrow classes will start, and you better keep your energy. But in case you're hungry, the cafeteria saved you a plate."

Naruto smiled, "Thanks, I'd appreciate if I could eat now."

Chairman Kiske smiled and nodded. After Naruto ate, was given a schedule for his classes along all the necessary notes to answer his questions, and went up the stairs, the chairman showed the younger blond his new room. It was small, had a futon, a small kitchen, and a bath. The place was as big as a normal bedroom at most. Nothing fancy but it helped the residents to live in this new setting.

Naruto finally waved goodbye to the Chairman, setting his packed belongings in the middle of the room and staring at the green curtains of the window. After moving apart the green cloth he found a nice view of the city: a large mall bursting with life, a busy district with several establishments, and his school not too far away, just two blocks from where he was. There was even a shrine but it was hard to spot behind several trees.

He turned to his stuff, and started unpacking, coming upon a framed picture of a blond man hooking his arm around a beautiful long-haired redhead. The blond sighed and put the picture on a nearby stand, watching the kindly smiling faces of his parents holding his newborn self in their arms. Once he set it down, a knock came to his door.

Intrigued, he opened it to find a girl about his age or perhaps even older that had long black hair with evenly cut bangs over her azure eyes. And she certainly looked as someone you'd expect to either obey or respect. She was not smiling; her face was stoically set into stone yet had an aura of discipline and something that made Naruto know she was not to be messed with. He did find it odd how her lean, strong and sharp yet quite beautiful face was graced with bushy eyebrows, a regal demeanor, and that permanent scowl on her face. She also had a body capable of bouncing marbles off hidden in a white pantsuit with the same arm-band he saw Ichigo and Ryuuko carry.

Once again, Naruto had options, but they would end up the same. He greeted Fuzzy-Browed Girl, "Yo."

She bowed her head politely, "It's good to finally meet you. Uzumaki, right? I'm Satsuki, Kiryuiin Satsuki. I shall be your senior this semester, and as you can see by my uniform I will be watching over you." She closed her eyes calmly, taking a thoughtful expression that put meditating sages to shame, "I do hope you enjoy your stay here and that you have a wonderful semester. If you need anything, I'm on room four on the second floor. If you do not find me there, you will be welcomed at the student council."

"Heh… Thank you." he replied, scratching the back of his head at such a warm welcome, "You really needn't go this far to greet me, Satsuki-senpai."

And like that, the girl's stoic demeanor was changed by an amused smile and a chuckle, "I'd never have it any other way. I and others at the student council take our duties seriously, and you are my responsibility." She smiled slightly brighter then, "I also heard you're an amazing baseball player."

He chuckled, "I just joined my school's team to show off and look better than one of my classmates. The guy was good too, but I just wanted to stand out."

Satsuki nodded, her eyes closed but her smile still in place, "Then I hope you enjoy your stay to unleash your true potential. It may not seem like much coming from me, considering it's my obligation to get together with all the students," she extended her hand at him, "but for what it's worth, I welcome you as another student I want to see grow and bloom in this world."

Naruto didn't know whether to feel lucky or embarrassed that a girl was being this kind to him even if it was her duty, but he shook her hand with an awkward smile. As soon she was gone after exchanging a few words with him, and surprising him by handing the blond his schedule and a few advices on how to move around and act on his first day of classes, Naruto had to shake his head to stop looking like a dork. With a small but polite smile that'd make a fairy tale queen green with envy the bushy browed girl left.

Unpacking was easy; Naruto simply tossed his clothes in the drawers inside the closet and hung his shirts and jackets. With that out of the way, the whiskered blond looked at the mirror he had at one wall, his hat still over his head and reminding him of his old school.

He grabbed the tip of the hat and pulled it down with a sigh, "I'm no longer there, so why am I worrying?" he shook his head, "Agh… the old man said I'd finally have a chance to let go of the past. I'm no longer at Konoha High…" he looked at his image and grinned at it, "I am Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to have an awesome time at this new school!" he shouted to his reflection, even pumping his fist at the mirror. Cold, pure and simple cold spread into his knuckles and to his skin, and then his entire arm.

Naruto stared in disbelief as his skin touched the mirror and quickly got sucked in, "What the-?!" he cried and jumped back, landing flat on his ass into the floor. Sweat icier than Ichigo's stare started to cover his face, "Oh-kay… What just happened? Did I get drugged by that long-nosed geezer and his creepy assistant?"

XXXXXX

Back in the train wagon, Igor closed his eyes, "I'd like to say something to the lad, but we do have a job to keep helping him."

Tabitha chuckled, a hand to her mouth, "Speak for yourself, master. I enjoy a man that can fear me… It is… thrilling."

Igor stared at her with one eye opened, "I must ask if you take that from your mother or your father."

"I'd like to say it was from the one to defeat Nyx, but I can't deny the Velvet Room has its charms on one's growth…" Tabitha replied with her sweet smile.

XXXXXX

Feet firmly on the ground, and baseball bat in both hands, Naruto approached the mirror and poked it with the end of the bat, seeing it getting sucked into the mirror. The blond yelped and pulled back, watching the mirror's surface ripple like it were liquid, not solid, right where the steel bat touched it. Bat now above on his shoulder, Naruto approached the mirror again with a very uneasy feeling on the back of his head.

"Ok, what would Sakura say here and now?" he asked himself, a hand on his chin, before he put on an expression that spoke of dread, "Ok, after telling me to not touch this thing because it's dangerous, what to do?" he thought a bit deeper about it… until he found a simpler answer: "Ok, I'm tired of thinking!" he shouted in anger, raising the bat above his head, "Show yourself, whoever's behind this!"

He slammed the bat down on the mirror, but only watched its surface ripple again, as if mocking him. Naruto growled at it, baring rather sharp teeth at his image, "Ok, whoever or whatever you are, if you happen to just be mocking me, show me your-" and something large, dark, and impossible to see shot itself out of the mirror, grabbing him. Naruto stared at the mirror in disbelief, "Oh, this is going to go tits up."

And before he could even make a comment or anything more comprehensible than scream, he was yanked inside.

Naruto screamed all the way while he felt like he was falling, or rather floating. He couldn't tell what was up or down, if he was falling or going up. He was totally disoriented. A dream was what could best describe the experience, it felt like one. He was unable to do anything about it, he was going in through some hazy tunnel towards some goal, either a startling way to get up or a deeper level of insanity.

And then, the trip through the mirror stopped and Naruto was able to land, face down on a hard surface. He groaned, his head felt most of the pain after his unceremonious landing. Throbbing pain shot through his neurons, managing to keep him awake yet numbing his senses to make it harder to lift himself from the hard ground.

He rolled to his back, and reached for his head, trying to feel the rich cloth of his hat to calm himself. Instead, his fingers dug into his mop of golden spike, "Huh?" He got up with a cry of despair, "My hat?! How… Where is it?! What's happened to it?! Oh no, did it get thrown into some ring of Hell?! How am I going to get it back, that hat is like a part of me, no hat could ever replace it!"

"You have arrived."

Naruto snapped out of his misery at the sound of a monotone, near mechanical voice that announced his company in this place. But none of that mattered; the mysterious figure had patted his head through a certain piece of red cloth, putting his red baseball hat back on his skull.

"My hat!" The blond cried in joy, pulling it down on his head, "Oh thank you, whoever you are! You're a lifesaver! I wouldn't be able to look like a complete Naruto Uzumaki without my image intact!"

Finally turning to meet said lifesaver, Naruto jumped back, falling once again flat on his ass from the shock. What shocked him wasn't to see a girl – a very cute one should he add – dressed with a white cape that covered most of her body from her neck with its high collar down to her knees, showing her feet that had white bands around them arc. He wasn't surprised by her strange white hat that resembled that of a witch's but with two tips that gave her a cat-like look, like the hat were ears. It wasn't even the fact that she was floating in the air with her feet a few inches from the ground.

He had to admit she was cute, first of all. After all, men appreciate the beauty of all females in their own way, even if they could die. She had dark skin, a natural dusky tan. Her body was small, lean, and even with the cape covering her one could tell she wasn't very blessed in the chest area. Her legs were toned and shapely, and had to be strong even with what little one could see. Her eyes were very… captivating, Naruto had to admit. They were a pair of amber orbs that stared at him impassively, and the face they adorned made her look like a cat, mostly with her hat. She had platinum blonde hair that apparently could flow down her shoulders without her hat.

However, she had no emotion on her face. Her emotional range could be measured in negative numbers with such a dead look in her eyes.

But what really made him jump was what followed her. Floating at her side he could see two of the biggest, sharpest katana swords. The handles were white and about the size of an arm or leg with a golden guard, and the blades had to be as big as the girl's body, at the very least. There was a green glowing line between the edge, and some spheres, one white and the other black, with teeth and bat wings were holding the swords. Ridiculously enough, those spheres were keeping the swords afloat by biting on a ring near the guard on the blade, with their tiny wings lifting up the swords.

"You're all right." She said in the same monotone she used when he arrived.

Tempted to ask for how long, Naruto tried to approach the girl in a sensible manner, "Who are you and what are we doing here?"

The Mysterious Girl stared at him blankly before, to his baffled if awkward relief, she kneeled before him, "I am Ramlethal Valentine, and I am here to protect you, master."

"Master? Me?" Naruto asked in dumbfounded disbelief, a finger aimed to his face before he looked left and right for another guy.

"Affirmative," The girl replied coldly. "You are Naruto Uzumaki, orphan child of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. I am here to keep you safe, master."

He stared at the girl and found that only he and this Ramlethal girl were the ones in this place without counting the sphere thingies carrying her needlessly oversized swords.

Speaking of this place, Naruto finally took in the surroundings to find… his room.

But something was wrong; he noticed when he moved to the window. For starters, his bed was on the other side of the room yet still opposed to the door. He could see from outside the bus in which he arrived, but it was parked on the other side of the street. And, last but not least, the sky was pitch black yet a dark red sun shone above the still brightly lit building.

"What is this place?" he finally asked.

"Welcome to the Silver World." Ramlethal answered.

Naruto stepped back, gulping down a lump in his throat, "Silver World…?" he chuckled forcibly, "Heh… Hehehe… It isn't as fancy as it sounds." He was so nervous he started to feel delusional.

"It is a manifestation of the world humans inhabit. In short, this world is the realm on the other side of any reflection." The girl replied in her mechanical tone.

Naruto grabbed his face, closing his eyes to hold back an aching pulse in his head, "It's giving me a migraine, that's what your explanation does."

Ramlethal didn't react, she continued, "You should be careful, master."

Naruto growled, "Would you quit it with the master thing?" he asked, more tired than anything, "First of all, I don't even know you or what's going on? Second, I just want to leave this place. I already had it bad enough at my old school. And last but not least, why am I even here for? Who pulled me in? Was it you?"

Ramlethal shook her head, "No, it wasn't me, but master's desire."

Naruto scratched his head through his hat, "That doesn't even make sense… Ugh… What's this all about, Ram… Ram-chan?"

The girl blinked twice in the same second, "Ram-chan?"

At the sound of her echo, Naruto nodded, "Your name's a bit long, so I am calling you Ram-chan."

She nodded, "Understood, from now on, I am Ram-chan Va-" she stopped talking when he put a hand on her mouth.

He groaned, feeling a vein bulging in his forehead, "You can call yourself Ramlethal Valentine if you want to. I'm just calling you Ram-chan because I'm kind of lazy at the idea of saying such a weird and long name."

The girl nodded, and mumbled an "Understood" through his hand.

Naruto let her go and stared at his wall's mirror, which was broken, "How do I get out of here?"

Ramlethal bowed, "You can exit the Silver World through any reflecting surface big enough for your body if you wish to. However, I wouldn't recommend that right now."

"What?!" Naruto asked, grabbing the girl by her collar, "Listen to me, kitty! I'm done with all this weirdness! Let me get back to having a normal school life! I already had enough with-"

"**RRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!**"

"What… was… that?" Naruto asked once he let Ramlethal go.

The emotionless girl replied in her calm and ever monotonous voice, "You are in danger, master."

"I figured that out the moment you pulled me in!" he shouted back at her, "It was you who brought me here, right?! Then tell me how to get back to my room now!"

Ramlethal didn't blink or flinch, "Master, you're currently trapped in a realm of Shadows. In the Silver World, when powerful Shadows appear all exits are blocked to your realm." She motioned with her head to the broken mirror, "You are trapped, so long as the powerful Shadow which presence broke the links to your world and the Silver World remains alive." Her floating swords flew to her sides, staying midair menacingly, "That is why I am here, master, to protect you should Shadows come after you."

Naruto listened to her, and understood something, "So, you didn't pull me in."

Ramlethal replied swiftly, "Had I done that, I'd have put you in danger of facing this Shadow, master. I simply sensed your presence and rushed to your aid."

Naruto hummed, "Whoever was this asshole that dragged me here must be something else if you didn't 'sense' him, Ram-chan."

She bowed her head, "My power is limited to protecting you and detecting nearby dangers only, master. I am useless to you for anything else."

The blond gasped at that. Her words, her lack of care for herself, it was like he was talking to a machine. And, dare he admit it, such a fact made him feel something. It wasn't pity, care, concern, or even anything like worry in any way or form. What he felt was a need, something pulling him forward and pushing his hand towards the girl shoulder.

Ramlethal stared at his hand touching her body through her cape as he spoke, "Hey, you're keeping me safe, aren't you, Ram-chan?"

"Affirmative." She replied in her monotone.

He nodded, albeit uneasily, "Then… you're not useless, to me or anyone. You're already doing a great job by not leaving me alone."

The girl blinked twice in the same second, again; it was the closest to an emotion she'd show, he knew, "Understood."

Naruto groaned, "Listen, you don't need all those big fancy words, ok?" he stepped back and gave her a thumb up, "Listen, Ram-chan, if you want to say something's ok or true, then say a simple yes." He then twisted his wrist to move his thumb down, "If things aren't true or they don't go well, a no is all I need to listen to." And then he hooked a thumb to himself, "And if you get something, simply say so, like this:" he coughed into his fist and spoke up, "Got it." He said with a smile.

Ramlethal stared at him, blinked twice, and then nodded, "Got it." However, her face remained as emotional as a rock.

"That's… a start, I guess…" Naruto commented.

That's when it all happened too fast for him to react. He watched Ramlethal leap at him, her cape opening to reveal her arms and body. Naruto froze from the sight of a large dark limb reaching the window, but mostly because of Ramlethal's body. She had a curvaceous pair of hips, a fit and petite body, and as her only clothing she had a pair of very small and short white shorts with a white strap covering her moderately sized chest, with a ring in between her chocolate orbs to leave even less to the imagination.

He found the pouncing to be a surprise he didn't know he'd welcome, but then he saw Ramlethal's eyes, still dead. He was snapped back to reality, or whatever reality this world had, when his back hit the floor and Ramlethal's lean but strong arms held him close to her body. He could even feel her long nails nearly digging into his jacket.

What came next was more akin to a dream, or a nightmare. There was a loud, deafening crash. Naruto felt the entire world shudder from the force, tremor shaking him and Ramlethal in his room. He gritted his teeth when a pebble, a piece of debris, smacked one side of his head with enough pain to leave a sting yet not enough to get him to black out. The blond grunted, and was able to hear that grunt over the silence that now reigned the room.

He and Ramlethal got up, with him on groggy legs and a hand on his head to make him thankful that no blood was leaking, and then he saw it. Where the window once stood was a large hole that showed the one responsible for the mess to him.

His knees felt weak, he even had that urge to go to a bathroom, and his breath had just disappeared from existence at the sight before him. It was… a Shadow. That was the only way he could describe the being before him: a black mass of pure solidified darkness that just staring at felt like seeing the depths of an endless void, and there was a mask. A white blank mask with two eyes stared at him with no face or any sign of life whatsoever to greet him. What did greet him were arms, a dozen of them over the creature's large body.

And it was big, big enough to cover his entire room and make escaping or hiding in his bathroom impossible.

He was a transfer student, just a normal boy who wanted to leave his past behind and enjoy what he had. And yet he did something extremely brave, and extremely stupid.

Naruto raced at the large Shadow, ducking under one of its swings to grab his large and heavy steel bat, and raised the only weapon he had up above his head, "Get…" he brought the heavy steel down, "OUT!"

The heavy bat smashed the Shadow's arm closest to the blondes. Naruto watched his weapon sink into the flesh and swore he had to have cracked something, only for the arm to twist around the bat and reach out at him. Once again, he knew that what he did was stupid, but if pushed with his back against a wall then Naruto Uzumaki would do the most illogical things to keep on living.

And life was something someone else wanted him to have, "Master." He heard Ramlethal's voice, and watched her two massive swords fly at the Shadow, ramming themselves into its head and killing it instantly.

Naruto fell flat on his ass, once again, from the sheer shock, his bat still clutched firmly in his right hand, "Amazing…" he whispered as the Shadow started to disappear, its body withering like flames devoured it.

Ramlethal turned to him, her face still set into emotionless, "You need to remain by my side for now, master. Shadows can't be harmed by natural means."

He nodded, his teeth gritted, "I see, sorry… I just acted." He turned to the girl and grinned at her, albeit with some effort, "You're really amazing, Ram-chan. And… you saved me." He looked down, a sad smile on his face, "Sorry, for being such a weight."

She casually turned to the door, "You're still in danger, so follow me. We have to find a place away from the Shadow that broke the mirrors for you to escape."

He looked down again, "Yeah, you're right." He got up and followed the flying girl down the stairs of the building, bat still in hand, until they were out on the streets, "Now, where to?"

Ramlethal looked around, "I don't know for certain. This Shadow's aura surpasses my range. I can't detect where it ends. But I can tell where it is."

The universe was a cruel bitch. Just when Naruto had been about to ask where to find the spot most far away from that Shadow, he heard it:

"Let go of him! Ack!"

Naruto turned to the bus he had arrived in, finding several figures there, humans like him… or at least two looked to be humans.

One of them was down on one knee, gasping for air. Naruto recognized him by the uniform: he was a schoolmate of his. He had the same outfit Ichigo had, but his jacket was opened to reveal a red top with a black crossbones on his chest. This student had freckles, a rather handsome face, and wavy black hair down in a messy mop, but he hid that beneath an orange cowboy hat. The hat itself had a pair of goggles on top; one lens had a sad face painted on it, while the other had a happy face. He was also taller than Naruto and perhaps even Ichigo, and was well-built like a professional boxer, middleweight perhaps.

Speaking of a boxer, Naruto could see the guy's knuckles covered in bruises and his own blood, and his face sported a nasty cut on his right cheek that dripped blood down his neck. And yet, the black haired boy stood up and brought up his fists in an undisciplined stance, showing that he was a fighter, a street brawler, someone with no discipline but the guts to fight.

The other person was someone that Naruto didn't even know if he could call human at all. He looked human, and about a year older than Ichigo. He, like the freckled boy, was also strongly built, but lacked the amount of muscles the student with the cowboy hat carried. This guy had white hair done in a spiky hairdo that made him look like a hawk had slept on his head, a face even colder and less amused than Ichigo's but not as emotionless as Ramlethal's set in a brooding process that unnerved Naruto a bit. But his eyes truly left Naruto baffled, they were heterochromatic: one was green like an emerald, and the other a dark crimson the likes of a monster.

This guy was clad in a very strange outfit too. He didn't wear any school uniform, though. Or it didn't look like one, at least. He had a black jacket with no visible buttons and a high collar that covered his neck with a white trim, a pair of black ballooning pants, blood red boots with steel guards for the toes, and – in Naruto's opinion – a bitching red jacket over his shoulders. He wore the jacket only over his left arm, though. The right side fell down to his waist, kept up only by a pair of belts tightly wrapped around his hips, and showing his right arm.

Naruto blinked, for the albino's arm was covered in black belts to the point that it was almost like said arm were made of belts.

But what made Naruto fear this guy were two things: on his left arm the albino carried a little boy of around ten with shaggy black hair, a white shirt with a red anchor painted on it, jeans with the legs cut at the knees, and a scar under his left eye. The little kid was unconscious, sleeping uneasily in the white haired young man's grasp. And the second and most noteworthy thing was what the snow haired youth's right arm carried: a massive scythe with a red, jagged blade that cried for blood like that of a true grim reaper.

Freckled Boy growled at the Mysterious Scythe Man, "Let Luffy go, you bastard! My little brother has nothing to do with this!"

The Mysterious Scythe Man scoffed, "Stop being so damn noisy unless you want the Shadows to eat you and this kid up. I just want something from him, and once I get it I'll get my ass out of here before THEY arrive." He said in a voice so unfriendly that it showed he meant every word.

The Freckled Boy stood his ground, "I told you…" he started slowly, cracking his knuckles, "Let go of my little brother!"

The Freckled Boy charged at the albino with a fist reared back, but two more figures appeared. One of them was Naruto, rushing to keep the Freckled Boy from falling flat on his face with his next step, "Stop it, you can't even stand up!" he shouted while Ramlethal stood by his side, her eyes set on the albino.

"Who're you?" the youth with the little boy in his arm asked, his scythe still hefted on his shoulder while his eyes narrowed themselves at the newcomers.

Naruto turned and held his bat up, "That's my line!" he shouted, a fist up towards the albino, "What're you doing beating someone who wants his little brother back?!"

The white haired youth scowled, "What do you mean, Blondie?" he asked and raised up Luffy by his shirt's collar, "I found this little brat here and sensed something I wanted inside of him. I will just take it out and-" his eyes widened, and Naruto could swear the guy's red eye flashed for a brief instance, "You… You!"

Naruto watched how the white haired scythe wielder put Luffy down, only to rush at him at incredible speeds with his scythe reared back. With a yelp, Naruto raised his bat, clashing the heavy steel club against the scythe's staff to keep the blade away from himself and unable to dent or scratch the steel of his bat.

"Master!" Ramlethal's monotone cry alerted the taller and very strong heterochromatic youth of her presence.

The albino jumped back, whirled his scythe in both hands, and clashed the red jagged blade against Ramlethal's swords, pushing them back, "Damn it, I got no time to waste on you, not when he's right before me!"

His cries didn't bother the emotionless girl that floated in front of the man she proclaimed was her master, "It is my mission to keep him alive and safe, no matter what Shadows I may face. Should you attempt to strike him again," and then, right before Naruto's eyes, Ramlethal showed her true self when her face was split by a true, but sadistic smile, "It shall be at the cost of your life…"

Naruto nearly shuddered, he had to gulp a large lump in his throat at the sound of Ramlethal's slightly melodic and pleased tone of sadism when she uttered those last words. Not only that, but her white and wide smile was akin to a shark's by the fact that her lips had been hiding rows of pointy, sharp teeth quite capable of ripping flesh and perhaps even bone. But, if he paid attention now, he could see that even her nails from her hands and feet had taken a more feral and sharper look, like those of a tigress ready to tear apart whoever dared to harm her cubs.

The scythe wielder got into a stance of his own, his weapon up and ready to take life in a single swing. But then a voice rung, slightly distorted as it reached all of them, "_Ragna-kun! You need to get out! Hurry! The Shadow… The Shadow's on its way!_"

It was the voice of a girl, a very cute voice. And yet the care of that voice didn't calm the now identified Ragna's anger, "Fine then, lead the way. I'll come back for the leftovers."

"You're not-" Naruto started as he charged at Ragna, bat up, but before he could swing it on the scythe wielder the kidnapper's body was covered in a pillar of light that reached the bizarre skies of the Silver World, and then in a flash of that same light he disappeared from view, "Son of a…"

"Luffy!" the Freckled Boy cried, racing towards the little boy, Luffy. "Come on, open your eyes!" he shook the kid, tears threatening to come out of his eyes.

Naruto approached the two brothers, "What happened?" he asked, kneeling down.

"I don't know." The student with the cowboy hat replied, "That asshole just barged in our home, took Luffy and… Where are we?!" he asked, finally taking time to look at the place he was in with both shock and anger in his voice, "How do I even get Luffy back home?"

Naruto grabbed his shoulder, having options to give the distressed brother:

-"We need a way out first."

"I'll take care of him!"

"Carry him, I'll help you out!"

XXXXXX

"R-Right, thanks." The Freckled Boy said, finally regaining his composure.

XXXXXX

"We need a way out first."

-"I'll take care of him!"

"Carry him, I'll help you out!"

XXXXXX

"All right, be careful, he's still unconscious." The Freckled boy said tiredly.

XXXXXX

"We need a way out first."

"I'll take care of him!"

-"Carry him, I'll help you out!"

XXXXXX

"Lead the way then!" the Freckled boy nodded determined.

XXXXXX

But just as they were about to grab the poor child, it happened again:

"**RRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!**"

The two boys cringed, and turned around while Ramlethal floated backwards with her large swords at the ready, "It's here." She stated at the monster before her, "A Shadow of the Dark Dawn..."

The gates to the school were torn apart, the boys wide-eyed from the sight of the steel bars bent or just ripped apart by force alone. And then the one responsible crawled into their sights. It was big, and that was the easiest way to describe it. Everything else, its body, shape, form and traits, was hard to put into words. The other accurate word to label it as was 'mess'.

Naruto and the Freckled Boy stood before Luffy, bat and fists up, while Ramlethal floated by her master's side with her nails and swords ready at her side. The light of the Silver World revealed the creature, the Shadow, to be an enormous mass of clay. Its entire body was clay, a huge pile of it with no legs. But over the large lower mass was another with a shape similar to a torso. The torso was as big if not bigger than the bus Naruto rode in. Its arms were about as big as trees. And it had no face or head.

What the Shadow had were mouths, lots of them over most of its 'skin'. They were slits that showed large holes with big and square teeth and tongues hanging out. But the one that disturbed the boys was the one on its chest: it split its torso horizontally in two to show a tongue. From in between the teeth, the biggest tongue, which was the size of a human body, bobbed up and down with something at the tip, something truly disturbing.

On the tip of the Shadow's tongue was a human head attached to the oral muscle, and it was grinning. It was the face of a man probably in his early twenties or late teens, with long blond hair done in a ponytail and a large bang covering his right eye while the left stared madly at them. The left eye was of a golden shade, similar to Ramlethal's but with the difference that this one glowed.

The head's mouth opened, letting his own tongue hang out, and then a voice echoed from it, forming perfectly understandable words despite all mouths leaving their tongues to hang out, "**Well, well, well… Isn't it the little master?**" the Shadow snickered, "**How long has it been? A couple of years, perhaps a few decades? Who knows? However, I am tired of waiting, little master… I want to get rid of something, badly.**"

Naruto finally found his words at such a bizarre and disturbing sight, "How the Hell can you talk?"

The Freckled Boy deadpanned, "Dude, there's a head talking outside a monster's tongue. Shouldn't we be trying to get out of here?"

"**Afraid not, cowboy.**" The Shadow chortled, "**For I want to get rid of the little master, with a-**" and here all of the monster's mouths curled up into smiles, "**KATSU!**"

Sparks, bright orange sparks danced in front of the two boys at the sound of the Shadow's last word. The sparks disappeared for a fraction of a second, only to return as large fireballs, causing powerful explosions midair.

Naruto reacted quickly, crossing his arms in front of his face to brace himself for the force of the explosions. He saw the weakened Freckled Boy do the same, knowing they couldn't do anything else. And then it hit Naruto, the blond was flung backwards and grunted from the force of the strike alone while the heat and flames passed over his body. He could see the boy with the orange hat crying louder as he landed hard on the floor, bouncing once to land flat on his face.

The whiskered transfer student's hit the ground with a softer thud, and two slender arms around his frame, arms he recognized once again. "Ram-chan?!" he asked in shock at the girl on top of him, seeing her swords crisscrossed over her back while she covered him with her body. The shark-toothed girl panted weakly, her hat off and on the ground and some sooth on her skin, but she still stared at him with her eyes as dead as the first time he saw her.

Ramlethal spoke, but her voice came out forced, weakened, and pained even for a girl who showed no emotions, "Master, are you all right?"

Naruto snapped, "Idiot! Don't risk yourself for me, I'm not worth your life!" he closed his eyes, teeth gritted at the despair, the powerless dread, the crushing realization that he was nothing but useless, "I don't want you or anyone to suffer because of me! If you just throw away your life… what good would come from it?!"

The Shadow's voice laughed, "**Kukuhahahaha… Like you have a choice, little master. Now just die, you're not even needed in this world.**"

Naruto watched as the Shadow approached the Freckled Boy, who gritted his teeth and ignored the taste of the blood dripping from his mouth and down his chin to crawl at Luffy, and he also watched the dark being's arm reach for Ramlethal, who turned her eyes to the monster and willed her swords to move to protect the man she proclaimed was her master.

However, back at the train, Igor smiled, speaking merrily to the air, "It's about time for someone worthy of this power to step up, Naruto. Show your true self."

A voice.

A faint but powerful voice rung in his head.

"_**I am thou… Thou art I… If you wish to protect them… Then call for me…**_"

The Shadow brought up one enormous arm and swung it down on Ramlethal, "**Just die, you little, useless bitch!**"

"PER."

Naruto raised his right arm, using the other to hold Ramlethal close to his body.

"SO."

Ramlethal could sense it, the power flowing around her master in a blue aura.

"NA!"

An eruption of blue flames and pure power shook the entire building, the bus, and the large Shadow that stepped back away from the blond.

What appeared next was a being that resembled Naruto, somewhat. It was a large, muscular man that floated over the blond. His hair was like a mane of white flames, his eyes were glowing white orbs with no pupils or irises. His skin was red and covered in marks that a warrior would proudly display. He wore a red and black pair of hakama pants that had seen better days, with gold ankle-guards, one which kept the left leg of his pants inside to give it a ballooning effect while the other was beneath the right ragged pants leg.

His face was set in an angry scowl that made the Shadow shudder, but what really called the Shadow's attention were the man's arms: six of them, covered in a gold skin-tight armor that reached even his shoulders.

The six armed man slammed all his right fists into his left palms, "_**I am Asura, the Destructor… As a manifestation of your true self, I will destroy everything that makes those closest to you feel despair**__._"

The Shadow growled, "**Stop babbling and disappear like an explosion with the beauty of my art!**" The Shadow's mouths smiled again, "**KATSU**!" Sparks appeared around the large red man, but Asura looked unamused, his scowl still in place. Finally the explosions took place, covering the six-armed entity in fire and causing the Shadow to laugh, "**Serves you right! I am Deidara, the Shadow that understands that beauty is created only by the end of art's life! Pieces of art, they all will disappear at the moment of true beauty, the end of one's existence! Now, show me your true art with an explosion, little m-**"

"_**YOU TALK TOO MUCH!**_"

Asura's roar was impressive as the man soared through the flames, unharmed. Its right fists were all clenched, and Deidara could only gasp before they all slammed on the side of his body. The face cringed, the tongues shuddered, and the large mass of clay shook with the great force of the man's fists. Deidara's body sunk in the direction the fist had slammed into him, like his insides were absorbing his clay flesh. And then it was like time set back in and the Shadow flew off into a wall, crushing it.

Then Asura disappeared, his body fading into thin air. Ramlethal finally realized she had watched it all with her eyes slightly more opened, not quite wide but still showing more of an emotion than before. She also felt her master shift her body as he stood up, and settle her petite form down while he grabbed his bat with both hands and raised it with the handle beside his head.

"Now's my turn to protect you." Naruto said to the girl.

"**YOU DAMN BRAT!**"

Deidara rushed at the boy, using his large arms to pull himself closer towards the red clad student. Naruto gave a powerful step forward, spun his waist around, and swung his bat with all his might at the arm that rushed at him. The Freckled Boy watched in amazement how not only did the bat hit its mark with enough force to stop the Shadow's blow, but it also sent it and the monster to fall back.

The street fighter watched in amazement, "How did he get that strong? It took me to nearly break my hands to damage other monsters."

Naruto hefted his bat on his shoulder, "It's simple, Deidara…" he walked to the Shadow, and Asura appeared again, cracking his six sets of knuckles, "You put others in danger because of me… Don't think for a second I will forgive you!" he extended his left hand forward and Asura attacked.

The last thing that could be heard from Deidara was his cries of pain as a storm of fists rained down on him. Ramlethal and the boy with the cowboy hat stared in stunned silence as Asura roared at the top of his lungs while his six golden arms slammed powerful strikes on the Shadow. Asura's arms moved in a blur, crushing and reducing the claw into nothing but a smear on the ground with his relentless strikes that just seemed to get faster and heavier by the second.

When Asura finally stopped, Deidara's head was unrecognizable from the smear that his body left. And like the first Shadow Naruto saw, Deidara also disappeared like his body were eaten by flames.

The blond sighed, a hand tipping up his hat, "Whew… I think I could use a rest."

Ramlethal watched her master's knees wobble and flew at his side, catching him before his knees could properly hit the ground. He fell backwards into her arms, looking at her still expressionless face with a smile of his own, "Master, you are exhausted. You summoned your Persona without a proper way to draw it from your being. You will need your rest."

Naruto chuckled weakly, "Hey, next time you want to say something like that, could you tell me I did good in keeping you safe?"

Ramlethal blinked twice, but replied quickly, "Got it… Master, you did a good job keeping me and these other two safe."

Even if her expression and voice were as dead as always, Naruto smiled, "Thanks…"

And with that, sleep finally claimed him.

XXXXXX

"Welcome."

Naruto's eyes snapped wide open when he found himself back in his seat at the Velvet Room with Igor staring at him. The suited elder had that smile that made one wonder if the man laughed behind his back in the middle of the mess he just got himself into. Tabitha remained by the long-nosed man's side with her eyes fixed on Naruto's, unnerving him even more. She had her clipboard in her left arm, a long white feather in her left wrote notes while her eyes remained on his.

"So, once again I am in the Velvet Room, why am I here now of all times?" he finally asked.

Igor replied, "Since you've awakened your first Persona, a rather powerful individual no other soul had managed to tame until you arrived, I felt the need to congratulate you." he waved a hand, and on the table before him a card appeared with Asura standing in the picture on it. "A powerful ally of the Fool Arcana, with a power to not be taken lightly. That is why I summoned you here. To remind you of our contract and that you shall take responsibility for your actions."

Naruto nodded, "If it means that Ramlethal and those two boys are safe, you can count on me to face whatever you got!"

Igor grinned wider at the kid's determination, "Good. And it seems our time is running low, for you are about to wake up. But worry not, for I shall leave a door opened to you if you wish to visit us and gather more Personas like Asura. They shall be the masks you will use to face the Shadows, and the eyes that will allow you to see the potential you and others have."

"I don't get it, but ok." Naruto stated with a simple nod.

Igor smiled, "You will in due time. Now, Tabitha."

The girl nodded and walked to Naruto, slipping a blue glowing card into his hand, "This is your key. Please, do not miss it or Mama would be mad." And before he could ask what she meant, Igor continued.

"It will allow you access to our services. Tabitha here shall aid you in anything you may need, such as gathering items essential to this new path you've taken. I, for my part, will aid you in creating and crafting new Personas, beings of power that can stand up along the one you summoned."

Naruto nodded and pocketed the card, "Then I guess I'll see you later, Gramps."

Igor's right eyebrow elevated itself an inch while his bulging eyes stared at the youth with the same curiosity as always, "We shall await your return."

With a flash of light Naruto was gone, leaving Tabitha finally alone to let out a few silent snickers, "Master…"

"Yes, Tabitha?" Igor inquired calmly, reaching for the card of Asura.

The silver haired girl put a finger to her chin, her smile wide, "I'd like to study him."

Igor nearly dropped the card at the sound of those words, now feeling sorry for the blond boy.

XXXXXX

In the middle of Naruto's room, several familiar faces stared at the boy sleeping soundly in his bed.

"Now that Luffy's back at his home, it seems the worst has ended. Have you taken care of the other boy?" Chairman Kiske asked Sol.

The gruff man nodded once, "He was in bad shape, even exhausted himself by fighting Shadows with his bare hands. Got to admit, kid had a pair of balls."

"I know him." Satsuki replied, arms crossed, "His name is Portgas D. Ace. I've heard his parents died when he was at a young age and now lives at the orphanage."

The chairman noted that down in his head, "Then, if I may be so blunt, we should recruit him. Someone who can stand in the Silver World for so long and fight Shadows with their bare fists would be a great addition to us. He just needs a Truth Key, and perhaps some proper gloves, and his fists won't need intensive healing."

Ichigo spoke up, "I've seen him fight, with or without gloves, Ace is strong enough to make people see stars. And Naruto… Just what is he?"

Ryuuko, who stood by the door behind Satsuki, spoke up, "He summoned a Persona without a Truth Key. That shouldn't be possible. Personas need a way to be channeled outside of their user, don't they?"

Sol scoffed, "Of course they do, I have researched those freaks and ways to kill them for a long time. However, it's a rule of the universe to expect the unexpected to happen, even if you don't know what it may be. Right now, he brought out a Persona out of the blue. It may be a different method to ours, or something else entirely, but it is worth noting that he's alive."

"Then…" Ryuuko continued, before aiming a finger at the bed, "What's SHE still doing here?!" she cried with a large red blush.

"I have to protect master," Ramlethal said matter-of-factly while not moving an inch from her spot, which was on top of Naruto, squatting over his form like a kitten resting on top of its master.

The others were reluctant to approach her, considering the size of her swords, but the chairman approached her, "I see. But that doesn't explain much, um… Ramlethal, right?"

"Yes." She said in her dead monotone.

Chairman Kiske nodded, "Why do you want to protect Naruto? What are you even? Why did you bring him here instead of someplace else?"

Ramlethal blinked twice, but replied, "It is my duty to protect master. All I am is a tool to protect master. I brought him to the place he wanted to be, coincidentally a place outside the Silver World, so he could rest without being affected by the power of the Silver World."

The chairman nodded, "That is indeed pretty logical, the Silver World may be a literal mirror image of our world, but it drains the energy and emotions of those who walk into it."

Ryuuko blushed a bit harder, "Do you have to remain on top of him like that? Aren't you a bit, well, embarrassed?"

Satsuki chortled, "You were always so easy to fluster, Ryuuko, but I never thought it'd be this much."

"Shut it." The girl said, turning to Ramlethal once again for an answer.

"I have no need to feel embarrassment or shame, so long as I protect master." She then grabbed his shoulders and lifted him up, "I shall bathe him now."

"Wait, what?!" Ichigo asked, his face and those of the other guests in Naruto's room getting many shades of red, minus Sol. "Just what the Hell are you talking about?! You can't bathe him! I mean, sure, he needs a bath, but- I…" it was highly amusing to see the stone-faced carrot head get so flustered.

Sol for his part let out a brief roar of laughter, "Oahahahaha! Nice, kid sure got lucky!" he said, giving the unconscious Naruto a thumb up.

The chairman stiffened, "Frederik, don't even joke about it! Two young teenagers still in their stage of blooming cannot share their space in a bath-tub! It is-"

"Wait, girly." Sol said, holding a hand that halted the cat-like girl, "Just let me get my camera."

"Frederik!" the chairman roared.

"Don't you dare, old fart!" Ryuuko cried.

"We could use the pictures, for research purposes." Satsuki said, her face stoic like it was made out of stone but her tone serious despite the nonsense of the situation.

"Have you no shame?!" Ichigo asked, "Come on, we can't just invade some poor guy's personal space when we've already done our research on him to get another ally. Have some morals."

Sol grinned, "Well, I want to see this, Satsuki is interested, and the boy's new girlfriend is also into it. We could at least take a few shots to analyze if there's any reaction between their bodies."

"Absolutely not!" the three against the idea roared.

Satsuki closed her eyes, arms crossed, "Uzumaki is a rare specimen, we should study him one way or another."

Sol nodded, "And for that we should… wait, where are they?"

The students and the grown men found the blondes missing, the door to Naruto's bathroom opened, and Ramlethal slowly but surely undoing his clothes.

It was at that time that Naruto finally woke up… finding everyone he met that day jumping at him while Ramlethal started to strip him.

Only one intelligent comment could come out of this:

"What?!"

Soon he found himself beneath a pile of bodies with Ramlethal's form crushing him and the emotionless girl not making a sound while staring at his bare-chested self.

"Master, you are awake… Should I say Good Morning, or Good Night seeing as it is already nighttime?"

The blond groaned and let the back of his head hit the tiles of his bathroom floor, "I'd like an explanation, please. And my pants too."

"Got it."

At those two words, Naruto closed his eyes and tried to take in everything that changed his life so much.

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**I hope you enjoyed this little idea. Now, here are the rules for this challenge if you want to do a fic like this:**

1\. You shall bring Naruto and characters of different franchises and put them together as a team in the Persona-verse. If you are a female writer and feel like it, you can use Naruto's female persona.

2\. Naruto as the leader has to interact with his teammates and must give them an equal treatment.

3\. Please go nuts with all the Personas you want to use, like how I used Asura from Asura's Wrath, you don't have to use Personas from the Persona-verse, but characters from other franchises to take the place of Personas.

4\. Pairings are optional. You can go the harem route considering that the Persona protagonists can pimp like no-one can.

5\. Alternate their worlds to fit with Persona, so yes, make them AU's. And make sure to have fun.

6\. You can follow the formula of the Persona games or follow your own, but for it to be a Persona game it needs to happen in a modern highschool.

7\. Last but not least, contact me via PM to tell me about your fic so I can have fun reading it.

BIOS:

**Naruto Uzumaki** (From NARUTO)

Arcana: The Fool – New beginnings, purity and open-hearted energy of a child.

Description: A transfer student who wants a new start in life, he finds himself tasked to understand why Shadows look after him and why they intend to kill him.

Personas (Currently): Asura the Destructor.

**Ace Portgas D.** (From One Piece)

Arcana: Magician – Using one's power to make a difference, in our lives and in the greater world, if we simply make a point to try.

Description: An orphaned street fighter that fights to keep his little siblings at the orphanage safe and sound, even if they don't share the same blood.

**Ichigo Kurosaki** (From Bleach)

Arcana: Emperor - Domination of the mind over the heart is sometimes not wanted, but in some cases is it necessary and even welcomed

Description: A stoic, and grumpy student with sharp skills for swordsmanship and an even sharper tongue if he's mad.

**Ramlethal Valentine** (From Guilty Gear)

Arcana: Death – An end to bring transformation and change.

Description: An enigma to those around her, she only sees herself as a tool, not even caring about her existence to do her duty of protecting her master.

**Ryuuko Matoi** (From Kill LA Kill)

Arcana: Chariot - Energy but not free-for-all energy. It's directed, controlled, and has a goal in mind.

Description: A loud and delinquent looking girl, she's a strong girl that doesn't give up until she accomplishes what she set herself up to do.

**Satsuki Kiryuiin** (From Kill LA Kill)

Arcana: Empress – An archetype of feminine power; she is augurs a need for us to be in touch with our feminine side, to listen to our intuition, and to give priority to our emotions an passions.

Description: The student council president, many can't deny she surpasses others with her grace, skills, knowledge, wisdom, and power. But her icy demeanor seems to hide something.

**Ragna** (From Blazblue)

Arcana: The Moon - Things may seem somewhat confusing; sit with the uncertainty, don't try to force things or people to do things before they are ready.

Description: A dangerous teen hell-bent on destroying something.

**Tabitha** (OC)

Arcana: ?/Unknown

Description: The assistant of Igor at the Velvet Room, she is a child of one of the inhabitants of the odd place and, apparently, a human. She likes to study others in a disturbing manner.

**Sol/Frederik** (From Guilty Gear)

Arcana: The Devil – Bondage that is metaphoric and internal to look beyond superficial appearances and to go deeper into the truth and meaning of a situation.

Description: A brilliant scientist and associate of Ky Kiske's, Sol is determined to find a truth that Shadows hide for his own reasons.

**Ky Kiske** (From Guilty Gear)

Arcana: Justice – It deals with the idea of karma and the law of cause and effect, stating that all events, and all people, are connected.

Description: A fair gentleman whose looks betray his age, he is a married man and father that wants to see people earn what they deserve.

**Luffy Monkey D.** (From One Piece)

Arcana: The Star - When the Star appears, you are likely to find yourself feeling rather inspired.

Description: Ace's little brother figure, Luffy is an energetic child that manages to put a smile on others' faces for the sake of seeing said smile.

**Swordslinger out!**


	2. Chapter 2

I OWN NOTHING

As some of you may know, I'm the last in line of a failed experiment to create the world's most quirky fanfic writer. All others have perished after being unable to sustain the required amounts of meth in their brains.

**XXXXXX**

Rough night sleep

"The beings you fought, they're called Shadows. They're the darker side of humanity, taking on twisted forms to spread misery. You're two lucky brats, you're still alive."

Now at the dorm's living room, Naruto sat beside Ace with Ramlethal on his other side, keeping herself close to him. Ace for his part rested his wrists on his knees and leaned forward, his cowboy hat tilted up to listen to what Sol, currently the one talking, had to say about what they had dealt with. Naruto had, after requesting Ramlethal to let him be, taken a bath and gotten downstairs to meet everyone for dinner and a needed explanation. Ace didn't even waste a second to get himself up and start asking questions the moment he woke up and exited the room he was put in.

"Those freaks were a real pain." The freckled brawler replied, "I've gotten into fights with boxers, professional boxers, and I can still win with one punch. The Shadows took my punches and kicks like sponges."

The chairman nodded, "That's the effect of the Silver World. We know not its purposes, origin, or why it even exists. What we do know after years of research is that it drains countless amounts of emotions and energy of whoever enters it or approaches it through a mirror." He turned to Sol, "Frederik here and I have dedicated our lives to try to stop it, but as you can imagine we haven't had much success, until-"

"Until a terrible accident several years ago," Sol replied, "You're best not knowing the details, not even I have much knowledge of what happened. I know only that some bastard started tinkering with the Silver World's power." He growled the last part.

Ichigo continued, "After that, some people have manifested the ability to use Personas. I didn't know about it until I met Satsuki. It took me a lot to take in what the Silver World represented and what it could do to others. At that time, trust me, I was scared." He admitted with some reluctance, the two new residents of the building could tell, "The main gimmick, as I get it, is that if you don't faint instantly the moment you step into the Silver World, you have the potential to use a Persona."

"The red guy he used?" Ace asked with a thumb hooked to Naruto, before aiming that hand's index finger to himself, "Wait, you mean I can also use one of those?!"

Satsuki nodded, "Indeed, Portgas. But it comes at a price. A Persona requires special power, and that is why we use a method developed by Sol and Chairman Ky to unleash them. It's called a Truth Key." She said and handed the two boys, as the name said, two large keys. "They may not seem like much, but when you need to use a Persona at least you won't faint."

Naruto grimaced at the memory of his exhaustion and was glad Ramlethal and Ace carried and protected his unconscious body from harm. The thought of his sleeping self in the Silver World made his stomach twist. Thus he stared at the object which would stop that: a large gold key about ten inches long with a diamond shaped bow with an eye carved into it on both sides, and at the end there was no bit.

"Who did you summon?" Ryuuko asked, snapping the blond out of his wondering of how the Truth Key could work.

"He said his name was Asura." The blond replied, clutching the key in his hand.

Sol knitted his eyebrows together, "I see, but I've seen something else." Naruto turned curiously at the large man, "When we found movement in the Silver World, it wasn't only because of the Shadow you fought, but because of you and your Persona." He walked closely to the boy with a stoic look on his face, "I don't think you've fully unleashed your powers."

Ace smiled, "Heh, does it really matter?" he threw his Truth Key up and caught it in his hand, smile widening on his face, "After all you've said, I want to get back at those monsters for trying to hurt my little brother. To know I got someone strong by my side to stop them is good enough too." he pocketed the large key and extended his right hand to Naruto, "What say you? You don't want those Shadows to hurt others, do you?"

Briefly reliving how Ace, Luffy and Ramlethal nearly died was enough for Naruto to shake the freckled boy's hand, "Damn right I won't." to that the boy in the cowboy hat grinned wider.

Ryuuko spoke up, "Don't get so far ahead, pal." She wagged a finger at the street fighter, "Summoning a Persona requires more than just a Truth Key. If you want to earn their power, you will have to learn how to use it." She grinned and pulled out her own Truth Key, "Mine is a bit of an odd case. She can transform into different forms, but remains the same."

Ichigo brandished his key too, "My Persona also has his own issues, and if I abuse his power then I may be the one biting the dust."

Satsuki showed her key, "The Persona I was gifted with has some special attributes as well: while she does well in battle, I can't rely alone on her power."

Naruto blinked, "Wait, she? He?" he looked at his key, "Does that mean Personas come as boys and girls?"

Ramlethal replied, "A Persona is a manifestation of a living being's spirit. They take a form that fits them and grant them with powers that match the attributes of the user. For example, master, your Persona fit you in your time of need to destroy a threat to those you wanted to protect. However, it's only by your will and inner power that Asura came to be." She stared at the others, "They have a permanently set Persona."

Sol blinked, "Wait, you mean he can wield more than one?!"

The room grew silent while all the eyes went to Naruto, "Yes." The cat-like girl replied in her monotone, "I am here to protect master, nothing else. However, vital information was given to me about him. This power is a blessing for him to live through the hardships that await him."

"What hardships?" Ky inquired, leaning over the dark skinned girl.

Ramlethal replied without missing a beat, "I do not possess information on such matter."

"What?!" Sol and Ky cried in unison, the former speaking, "Come on, girly, you're the first truly reliable source of information we have on that damn place and the Shadows, is there anything you can tell us about it?"

Ramlethal stared at him, emotionless as always, "I exist only to protect master. There's no need for me to know of anything else but anything that involves my master's well-being."

Ky stared at her, a look of inner pain crossing his face, "So you know nothing else like who are your parents, or at least who gave you that order?"

"No." that answer brought a cold silence to the room, "I exist to protect my master. I do not need to know who my creator was or where I come from. I am a puppet with that single purpose, a tool for his safety."

Satsuki nodded, "At least this tells us something." Her face returned to that of a queen of steel, "Someone is using Valentine for the sake of keeping Uzumaki safe. We may not know the purpose, but for now we can assume that we need him in our team." She then turned to Ramlethal, "And judging by how you're not objecting to him being with us, I'd say you agree with this."

"Yes." A small sigh of relief left the chairman's lips at those words, "Master's safety the only thing I know of and it is all that my creator made me for. There's no other use I possess."

Ace leaned back on his seat, pulling down his hat so it covered his eyes, "That's cruel if you ask me." He stated, his voice sounding serious and, dare one say it, slightly angry, "Someone just gave you a single goal in life, and you can't even think of anything else but doing it."

Ryuuko had to disagree, "She could be trying to lie to us, though."

Satsuki shook her head, "Haven't you seen, Ryuuko? Valentine possesses no sense of falsehood. If she did, we could have seen it right away with a single piece of evidence." She turned to the emotionless glare, her fuzzy browed glare examining every square inch of dusky skin for the truth, "Your creator wants Naruto to succeed in his hardships yet didn't tell you his reasons, so why didn't you try to keep his identity a secret?"

Ramlethal didn't blink, "I know not my creator's face because of my purpose not needing such information."

Satsuki, with her arms crossed, tapped her right index finger on her left shoulder, "No anger, no sorrow, and not even a sense of curiosity after stating why you're here, Valentine." She stared at the amber eyed girl once again, "It's like talking to a machine: it will reply with the data it has available, nothing else."

Ichigo gritted his teeth, "I am still with Ryuuko on this, for a change." He stated with his usual scowl, "We can't trust her, even if she's saying the truth."

"I trust her." Everyone in the room turned to Naruto, who stood up with a hand extended to the group but with his elbow on his side, "I don't give a damn about her orders, she still protected me. I owe her that much." He tilted down his baseball cap, "If you got an issue with that, I'll gladly take it on and find a way to break your logic, no matter how stupid. I'm not giving up on someone who'd risk her life for mine." His words and determination were strong enough so that the group could nearly physically feel them.

Ace grinned and stood up, "Count me in." he said, giving a sly smirk to Naruto, "You saved my little brother and my own hide. I owe you that much."

Sol stared at the girl, before smirking as he walked to her, "Then allow me to examine her." Instantly, Naruto, Ace, Satsuki, Ryuuko, Ichigo and Ky stood between the large man and the girl. To that he replied with a growl and a sneer, "Hey, get your minds out of the gutter. I'm talking about a proper scientific research here. Someone, anyone who can stay in the Silver World waiting who knows how long for someone to arrive and protect him while flying and having two enormous floating pet swords is not normal." He then stared at the girl, "Besides, she's made it obvious that she can't be fully human."

Silence settled in the room at such a thought, even if it was obvious. Ramlethal was anything but human, but even so, "Will she be all right?" Naruto asked, looking at her with some worry.

"I'll be supervising everything and make sure she's not harmed after what she did for you." The chairman stated, arms crossed, "After all, I need the information, and I got some questions I'd like to ask her too."

Naruto turned to Ramlethal, "Think you can cooperate with them?"

The girl blinked twice, "I'm sorry, master, I do not understand."

He groaned, "Do you agree with them?"

The girl tilted her head to the side, her face still focused in showing no emotion, "I only serve you, master."

He scratched the back of his head, "I don't want to decide this for you. I want you to do this on your own accord."

There was a silent pause before Ramlethal nodded, "Got it." She turned to Sol, her swords dangling in the air dangerously close to her, "Would I be kept away from master in times of need?"

Ky shook his head, "I'm sure we can work something out. And the only way Naruto would be harmed would be if he entered the Silver World."

"Then I shall always remain by his side if he ventures there." She replied without missing a beat.

Ky nodded, "Now, I don't want to assume anything after what you two proclaimed, and I want even less to force you into this, but I got to ask for your help." He bowed to Naruto and Ace, surprising them at such a bold move from a teacher, "Please, I beg you to grant us your strength against the Shadows in order to stop them and deal with the dangers of the Silver World."

Ace grinned, scratching the tip of his nose, "Don't ask then, I'm in so long as I can stop those monsters." Naruto nodded, showing he agreed with the freckled fighter.

Ky stood up straight with a smile, "Thank you." he bowed again before returning to his full height and looking at all the students, "Now, it's getting late and dinner will be served soon. You all need your rest for tomorrow's classes. Oh, and before I forget, Ace-san." Said teen turned to the teacher who handed him a different key, one with a key-chain and a plastic piece with a number on it, "We'd like for you to stay here as soon as possible. I will deal with the paperwork myself."

Ace pocketed the key with a grin, "Count on me, sensei."

The deceivingly young looking man nodded, "For now, I hope you two are hungry. My wife made tonight's dinner."

"Yes!" the one to shout loudly, arms pumped up, was Ryuuko, "Man, Dizzy-san's cooking is matched only by Mako's mom's croquettes! I can't wait to dig in!"

Sol snorted, "Good thing your wife makes enough food for an army, Boy Scout."

Ky sighed, "True. But nonetheless, Ram-" he blinked, "She's gone!"

"Master, would you like me to feed you?"

"Where did you come from?!"

Sol started to laugh again at the sight of the kids while Ky's hand met his forehead, "It's going to be a long night." The blond man mumbled under his breath.

Sol patted the smaller man's shoulder, "Don't worry and let them be. They may be kids, but for now they're our only chance to stop the Shadows. Besides, it's best to have fun rather than being a prude like you."

"Don't ruin the moment, Frederik." The chairman said while he approached the table, followed by the large man.

Naruto found the food to be delicious, and that would be an understatement. The chairman's wife, Dizzy, had to be either a world class chef or literally pour love into every plate she made. It was a simple curry meal, curry on one side, rice on the other, and a glass of fruit juice for everyone. The spices were mixed perfectly, the rice was boiled to perfection, and the mixture of fruits that went into the juice was unnaturally good. As the group ate, with Naruto, Ace, Ryuuko and Sol having getting more from the kitchen, it was nice to relax and forget about the fights ahead of them.

Ace did have some questions left, "So, how did you guys get recruited?" he asked between large mouthfuls of rice, some white grains on his freckled cheeks.

"Swallow before speaking." Ichigo said with his trademark stare, meaning a natural glare, "But if you got to ask. I was dragged here by my father, and then I find out that I'm a Persona user once Satsuki met me."

Said bushy browed girl nodded, "I was the first to meet Chairman Kiske and Mr. Sol. I came to this school for my own reasons, but found out about the Silver World none too gently." The way she spoke made it clear that she wanted no questions to be asked, "After that, I noticed that Kurosaki's aura emitted a strange wavelength different to others. It's a part of my Persona's power, to scan and analyze others. After speaking with him, Ryuuko arrived after some time passed."

Said red-streaked girl nodded, "I took Ichigo for a creep and nut-shot him."

Silence reigned around the group, until the two new recruits replied eloquently and elegantly, "Ahahahahahah! I'd pay to see that!" Naruto asked, holding his sides.

Ace nearly cried, "Well, he kind of looks the part! Hahahahaha!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo roared, red-faced, before facing the girl whose peculiar bang of hair resembled his face now, "You little…"

"Now, now, your approach was too forceful, Kurosaki." Satsuki stated calmly, "Luckily, I managed to talk with Ryuuko."

"Ichigo kind of stepped out of nowhere in a dark alley and told me he wanted to show me something. Considering he has that… face of his, well, what did you expect me to think with a permanent glare like Berry Boy's?" The delinquent-looking girl leaned back on her seat, looking disinterested to ignore Ichigo's rising anger, "I refused to see anyone until I found myself cornered in a bathroom by Eyebrows." She sighed while Satsuki brushed up the nickname for her bushy brows, "I'll admit I did scream like a little girl when I saw her hand sink into the mirror, but nowhere near as much when I put my head in and… you can guess the rest."

The chairman nodded, "We sadly can't help you, Sol and I." he looked down tiredly, "Even if we could enter the Silver World, we do not possess the power of a Persona. But what we can provide is back-up and some help." The chairman walked to Naruto and Ace, and pulled out to envelopes, "Here are five thousand yens for each of you. Do not spend them yet, though." He turned to Ichigo, "Ichigo-san, I'd like to ask you to escort them tomorrow so they can gather what they need for fighting the Shadows. Right after classes, please."

Ichigo nodded and Naruto groaned, "Easy comes, easy goes."

Ace sighed, "First time I get five thousand yen… I should've guessed this'd happen."

XXXXXX

Later that night Naruto was finally able to rest on his bed. Ace left for his home and everyone went to sleep while Sol and the chairman went to study Ramlethal and deal with her stay in the building. The whiskered Persona user wanted to sleep and relax after almost losing whatever dignity he could have had Ramlethal stripped him fully for his bath.

Thus he closed his eyes, and found himself back in the Velvet Room, "Oh come on!" the blond cried, his good mood gone when he registered that he was back at his seat in the train, and clad in his blue full-body pajamas with a goofy, cartoonish night cap on his head.

Tabitha smiled at him, standing by Igor's side, "I shall make this brief, do not worry." She waved a hand over her clipboard, and a familiar blue flame appeared, floating inches over the girl's hand to show Asura's card.

Igor spoke in his merry manner, "I did inform you that you can craft new Personas, but I believed you'd see us tomorrow before such a thing happened without you knowing." His grin widened, "I never thought I'd see someone so accepting and caring of others. Previous guests did use many masks for that, but you simply welcomed those you met today." He closed his bulging eyes, smile still in place, "It is a good trait to accept others despite their faults, but every gift has its price. You shall persevere to earn these and more presents from those who you establish links with."

The long-nosed man waved his hand, and on the table before him and Naruto several more cards appeared, each showing a picture of beings and people that seemed to come out of a fairy tale or manga. Tabitha smiled, "You possess the Wild Card known as The Fool, however your new encounters granted you access to new Personas. For starters, the Magician."

With a snap of Igor's fingers, one of the cards exploded in blue flames and from it appeared a new being, "_**Ahahaha!**_" the being before Naruto laughed with a high-pitched voice, "_**At last, someone worthy of my power… I am Veigar, the Master of Evil. May you use my power for great destruction… and badness!**_"

Naruto blinked, "He's so… tiny."

Indeed, Veigar, as the being before him introduced himself, was perhaps tall enough to reach Naruto's thighs. What said blond Persona user saw was a little thing in a wizard's blue outfit: cool jacket with a large belt, a wicked pointy had, and even a large steel gauntlet on the right hand which gripped a large staff. What stood out from Veigar was that Naruto couldn't see his face; all he could see was darkness from which two golden glowing eyes looked at him.

Veigar didn't like what he heard, "I am evil, do not laugh, my new user!" the Tiny Master of Evil, as Naruto would refer to from now on, shouted while waving his staff. One would notice how his voice didn't sound distorted anymore, "Make sure to bring me out in order to make your enemies suffer, all right?! Then, if I feel generous, you may become my new comrade in all things malevolent."

And with a snap of his fingers, Veigar vanished, and his card flew to Tabitha's clipboard to join Asura's. "He's a feisty one, but you may be able to control him better if you find a card that matches him." and before he could ask any details, Igor continued:

"Now, I believe you also accepted this card," the creepy man said, snapping his fingers, "The Chariot."

A second burst of azure fire, and Naruto was staring at an angel of all things. This one was odd to say the least, it was a little boy with messy brown hair, a white toga, black biker shorts, brown boot-like sandals, arm bands, a gold laurel crown, and bright blue eyes. Odd was what Naruto would use to describe the angel's weapon of choice, for it looked like a bow but it had no string and the kid didn't carry any arrows on him, and not only that but the bow had a sharp gold edge definitely capable of cutting.

"_**Congratulations, partner!**_" the angel said with a cheerful smile befitting of a boy his biological age, which appeared to be around twelve to fourteen, "_**I am Pit, loyal servant of Palutena the Goddess of Light! I will help you kick a lot of bad guy butt, no sweat!**_" he even pumped his arms.

"Um… thanks." Naruto said with a grin and some sweat forming on his forehead.

Pit smiled brighter, "Do not worry, buddy. If you got a problem, let me deal with anything that comes your way. I'll also tell you the best way to enjoy hot-springs if you're interested." Pit then left, his card flying to meet the others over Tabitha's clipboard.

Said pale girl smiled wickedly, "Amusing, so much energy from new Personas so in sync that they effortlessly become one with you. I can't wait to see more."

Igor nodded, his eyes on Naruto and a chuckle threatening to leave his throat, "Indeed, but I believe we have another guest from an equally powerful Arcana, the Emperor."

Another snap, another blue jet of flames to reveal a new Persona, "_**Eu sunt Dracual...**_" said a pale and aristocratic man, "_**Shall it be for the sake of mankind seeing another tomorrow, I will grant you my power. My name is Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes but you may call me Alucard. My sword, power and blood are yours.**_"

The noble looking man bowed politely to the boy. He had pale blonde hair that went down to his mid-back in a cascade of silver, skin as pale or if not paler than Tabitha's, and a face that'd make women weak on the knees. He wore black pants, black boots that reached just below his knees, a matching jacket with a golden trimming, and a black cape with a chain keeping it closed. On his right hand was a broadsword he had no trouble carrying. Also, even if it sounded crazy, Naruto could swear the man had fangs.

Tabitha blushed at Alucard's handsome appearance, "Truly a Persona you could learn from." She sounded teasing but Naruto shrugged it off.

Alucard returned to his full height and without any other word joined the other cards the girl held. Thus Igor continued, "Truthfully, a Persona that can grant you something more than power, wisdom. But there are others who would like to make your acquaintance." He snapped his fingers again, "Allow me to introduce to you the Empress."

The next figure made Naruto gulp, "_**Fufufu… I am more than delighted to know you. I am Morrigan Aensland, and from now I will enjoy keeping you company.**_"

She was a beautiful woman with long, light green hair, and bat-like wings on her back and the sides of her head. Her outfit consisted of a black leotard that showed enough cleavage to make it hard to breathe for whatever man looked at it. Her figure was far better gifted than any woman Naruto could even dream off with long, shapely legs, a round backside, and large, firm breasts. She crossed one leg over the other, showing her purple bat-printed thighs and black high heeled shoes. Her green eyes stared at Naruto's in amused wonder.

"Um… nice to meet you too." he said, feeling his mouth going dry.

"Such a cute user… No, such a cute master." She flapped her wings once, approaching the boy, "I bet you and I will have some joyful moments to look forward to." And after those words, she disappeared to meet with the other cards under a now stoic looking Tabitha's gaze.

"She sure is full of energy." The braided girl coldly said before turning to her master, "Who is next?"

"I believe the boy has the right to be the impatient one, Tabitha." Igor replied before snapping his fingers, "But here is one of the most dangerous ones: The Devil."

Azure flames revealed a man that reminded Naruto a lot of Ragna but with a more sensible haircut. This guy had a red trench coat, matching red pants, black boots, a black vest, and silver hair falling around his head in a mop. He had chiseled features, looked to be very strong with a muscular build, and in each of his hands which were hidden by black gloves, with the index and thumb missing to show his skin, were a pair of large handguns. One of the pistols was black, and the other white, and both were large enough to nearly take the kid's attention from what was on the man's back. Seemingly glued to his red coat, the albino had a massive broadsword nearly as big as him with a skull and ribcage guard.

The albino waved his black handgun at the kid, almost taunting him, "_**So I got to work for you, kid. Heh, not bad.**_" The man said with a cocky tone, "Name's Dante Sparda. I'll kill whatever freak and dark abomination that comes your way for a single price," he grinned widely and jumped down to be right in front of Naruto, "you think you could go for a strawberry sundae tomorrow after your classes?"

Naruto nodded absentmindedly, to which Dante grinned and joined the other cards, "Hmm, odd but charming fellow." Tabitha stated, looking at the blond, "To summon him you must be quite something. I shall look into this."

"We've got two cards left." Igor exclaimed, "The next one is a strong Persona indeed, so be careful." Instead of snapping his fingers, he raised both hands, "This is Justice."

Naruto covered his eyes when the eruption of blue fire illuminated the entire room. And the figure that appeared... was not what Naruto expected, it was a dog, a Pomeranian, "_**WELCOME!**_" it barked, nearly sending Naruto backwards from the powerful bark, not to mention the shock of hearing a dog speak, "_**I'm Missile! I'm a Pomeranian! If you're my user, then I shall protect you like I did with Miss Kamila!**_" it ran off the table and barked at the kid once again, the little doggie's tail wagged happily as it put its tiny front paws on Naruto's knees, "I can't fight very well, but I will keep you safe with my powers, Mister Naruto!"

"Such a cute and devoted little thing! I want to pet him!" Tabitha said with a large smile and melodic voice, but before she could do as she wished Missile joined the other cards, leaving her to sigh, "Aw… Not once had I seen such a cute Persona."

Naruto sighed, "Reminds me of another pup, only that this little guy is way friendlier." He said that with a smile.

Igor nodded, "Do not let his appearance fool you. Just like the Personas you've met, this little dog has a lot to offer. His spiritual power is unique." He waved his hand towards the final card, "Just like this one: Death."

The flames could not have been as powerful as those of Missile, but they still oozed with power. This time it was another human, if one could call this individual fully human. It was a man with sharp features, red eyes, long light blue hair that was pulled back cascading to his back, and long pointy ears. He also had pale gray skin and a face that said it was hard to approach him. The man was wearing a red cloak, dark magenta leggings, gauntlets, boots, and a chest plate, which all appear to be made of leather.

He looked at Naruto with a stare that said the kid wasn't good at simply existing, "_**My name is Magus.**_" He snapped his fingers and a large scythe appeared which he twirled in both hands to show off, "If you accept the power I wield, be ready to throw away your weaknesses." And without another word, said man left to join the other cards.

Tabitha looked at the card with a small glare, "Such a rebellious card against such a unique master… Oh well."

Igor chuckled, "It is not by our hand that the Personas reach to him, Tabitha. It is the power of the bonds you have with others that allow you to create and meet new Personas." He said the last part as he turned to the guest, "The more people you meet, the more bonds you will find. The deeper you understand them, the greater the power of your Personas. It takes understanding, determination, empathy, and courage to face what your future holds. We shall provide our service but, once again, this is your responsibility by your own choice."

Naruto stood up and walked towards Tabitha, looking at the cards before reaching for them, "They… want to fight for me." He sighed with a tired smile, "I don't really like to have others fight for me, risking what they have for my life." He looked up and chuckled mirthlessly, "But, these guys are my only chance to defeat the Shadows, right?"

He grabbed and held up Asura's card, hearing the red man's voice in his head, "_**We chose to fight along you on your command. This is our choice as much as it is yours to fight those monsters.**_" He heard the man growl, "_**All I'm good for…is to destroy things, so I will use my fists to destroy that which makes others cry.**_"

The whiskered Persona user nodded silently, his only response due to now having to take in the fact he was talking with a card. Tabitha chuckled, "We wish you a good rest before everything that awaits you the moment you wake up. Be sure to visit us again." She added a bit of a skip to her stepping towards him with her last words. "I shall be sure to study everything I can about you."

And the blond was gone, leaving Igor to meditate with his golf ball-sized eyeballs closed while Tabitha went to a world of her own.

XXXXXX

Naruto was back in his room, ready to sleep like a normal human being should after finding out a small detail, "You got to be shitting me… It's one o'clock." He threw a pillow at the alarm clock by his futon's side as if to silence the mute mockery the small device made out of his interrupted sleep. But since that damn thing was set to wake him up the kid retrieved the pillow and readied himself for heavy sleep.

But that was what he wanted, his Japanese bed was immediately assaulted by extra weight, making his eyes open to levels near Igor's level, "Master, I've come to inform you that-"

He couldn't forget her even if he wanted to, "Ram-chan?!" he cried at the caped girl currently resting on his torso without any weight. In fact, while he found her feet lightly sinking into his stomach, there was no weight to them. So either he was flying or… wait… "What're you doing here?" he asked after interrupting her.

"I shall remain by your side in your most vulnerable state, master." She replied without blinking, "I've also felt some strange presences surrounding you. But I've also arrived with news about our current status as master and servant." The way she said the last line with such a straight face unnerved Naruto, and didn't help the heat under his collar considering the girl's cape was open and her attire was as bold as her.

"You can tell me the details later." He said, pulling his covers over his face, "You can sleep wherever you want so long as I can sleep the rest of this night in peace."

"Got to admit it, kid, you got yourself a cute one."

Naruto bolted to sit straight up on his futon to look at the owner of the voice. His head felt fuzzy, yes, but he expected to see Sol at his door trying to embarrass him or the chairman saying something about Ramlethal's intentions. Our hero for his part couldn't give half a rodent's left buttock since he was too damn tired to think of anything. He wanted his sleep!

But, no, for that voice was of someone he met that night, and his presence and that of others joined him, "Fufufu, interesting. So young and with such a lovely servant giving herself to him." The one that jump-scared him had been Dante, and the one to rub salt into the embarrassment wound was the voluptuous succubus.

The two of them were see-through, like ghosts. And Asura joined them, "What are you two doing here?" the red man asked, his six arms crossed.

"I just sensed someone approaching our user, and it turns out to be a cutie." Dante said with a laidback smile that didn't amuse Asura at all.

The succubus giggled, "What did you expect from me?" she asked, pulling back a strand of hair behind her ear, "I enjoy man's desires for the flesh. My user being male made it all too… fun..." she stated with something akin to a moan before she gently floated towards the red man, a slight bounce on the most notorious parts of her flesh when she floated up in a seated position, a leg crossed over the other, "Why, I believe you were his first Persona, right? I'm eager to put all my money in saying knowing you and other Personas should be fun."

Asura narrowed his eyes, "I'm married and have a daughter. I'm not interested." He stated flatly.

Dante patted the red man's shoulder, "Then allow a bachelor to step up."

"Have you no shame?" Alucard asked when he materialized himself, followed by the rest of Naruto's new Personas.

Dante raised his hands defensively, "Hey, it's all in good fun, pal. Besides, we're not going to be killing Shadows anytime soon."

Alucard closed his eyes, "You're giving in too easily to desire when there are many ordeals waiting for us in the future. And, for the record, I'd stay away from myself, Morrigan." He said when noticing the bodalicious succubus floating inches from him, "The last succubus I met left a bad experience in mind. I wasn't too merciful to her either."

Morrigan giggled again, "Oh, son of the dark, you're making yourself more enrapturing."

The little angel blushed, "Wow, and I thought Phosphora's teasing was bad." He then turned to Asura, "So why exactly did you mention that you were a married father?"

At the sight of Asura's distraught face at the idea of having to explain such a thing to the young angel, Veigar started to snicker, "Nyehehehe… So many minds to play with. This should prove good for my plans of evil."

Missile barked at his new user, "Mister Naruto! Good night! Tomorrow, can I bark a good morning for you?"

Magus for his part watched all of this while adjusting his leather gloves. Out of everyone, he was the silent one, and Naruto was happy with that, but not with the others, "I just want to sleep." He moaned before a lightbulb turned on in his head, "Ram-chan, knock me out."

The girl blinked twice before, rather reluctantly, nodding, "Got it."

A direct hook to his jaw later, and Naruto went to sleep with a smile on his face. The other Personas raised a brow, "A bit extreme to get some sleep." Pit noted with a hand scratching the back of his head, "But are you sure that's the best way to send him to sleep?" he asked the blonde girl.

"She can't hear us." Replied Asura, "Even normal users like the kids our own user met can't hear their own Personas."

Dante chuckled, "We got ourselves one of a kind, then. Talk about lucky. But now he's in Dreamland."

Magus chortled for half a second, "Considering how noisy all of you were, I'm not surprised he'd prefer the bliss of unconsciousness."

Veigar raised his staff at the dark man, "Bah, big words from someone still hiding in the corner of the room." He let out a brief laugh, "Nyehehehehe… Now I can start inspecting this room for my user's growth as my soon to be comrade in all things malevolent!"

Pit grew alarmed, "Wait, are you sure it's ok to let him do that? Our user's supposed to be fighting for good, after all."

Ramlethal showed no interest at all, "Will master's well-being remain a priority?"

Veigar nodded, "That's right, girl, I shall… wait…"

The Personas stepped back, Missile finally noticing the girl, "Oh…" the doggie went, staring at her with his muzzle pulled back in his friendly and kind of dumb looking, well-meaning smile, and barked, "WELCOME!" he barked, "Who're you? Are you one of Mister Naruto's new pets?"

"How does your mind work, I may never know, but it should keep things simple." Alucard commented before patting the Pomeranian's head, "But he does ask an interesting question."

His gaze told Ramlethal that he wanted answers, which she gave, "I do not possess information on this matter."

Morrigan sighed, "Poor little thing." She put a hand on her chin, "Nothing but a tool to do this, when you have someone who cares enough to fight for your sake."

Ramlethal looked down, "I was unable to carry my task back then when the Shadow known as Deidara attacked. I shall not repeat that same mistake. Master's… important to me."

This intrigued Pit, "I thought it was his safety, why the change of heart?"

The girl looked up, "Master said he wanted to protect me when we were attacked. At that moment, though briefly, I was able to see he meant every word when he said he'd keep me safe."

Asura nodded, "That's the reason I reached out for him."

Ramlethal nodded, "I… want to protect master." She closed her eyes, her facial expressions still dead, "It is my duty, but now… there is a drive in me to do so. I do not understand it."

Pit smiled, "That's easy." He said, pumping his fists up, "Friends help each other, there's no need for a bigger reason."

"Bleh!" they turned to see a pink tongue sticking out of the dark void that was Veigar's face, "I shall take my leave now."

Magus nodded, "We've messed with the kid enough." He disappeared right after the Tiny Master of Evil.

Pit disappeared too, "Well, it was… fun getting to know you guys."

Morrigan winked at him, "Not as fun as it'll be getting to know you." she laughed at the vanishing angel's red face before she was out too.

Dante shrugged with a casual smirk, "This should be fun."

Alucard followed the albino in returning to where they came from, "For the first time we agree, son of Sparda."

Missile barked at the red man, "Is it time to sleep again?"

Asura nodded, "Just let him rest. Everything's just getting started."

And with that, Ramlethal was alone with her master, who was finally sleeping soundly despite the girl still squatting on his body. Not only that but she found him to be soft, and warm, and upon closer inspecting everything around him spoke of being comfortable. Not only that but she had taken damage and it had been a long day and night for the two of them.

XXXXXX

"What the-?!"

Naruto woke up to the sound of a familiar voice, his alarm clock and the rays of sun punishing his eyes told him that it was a few minutes too early for him to wake up. His head turned groggily to the one at his door, looking at his still half-sleep form. The blond blinked, getting some sand out and to focus his vision, and the dark blur before him took the form of Ichigo Kurosaki, staring red-faced at the scene before him.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins, allowing Naruto to see the position he was in: Ramlethal was on top of him, curled into a ball over his form, like a kitten. She had a peaceful, if still blank look on her face while her chest moved up and down with her breathing along her back. She simply slept like that, acting like some form of kitten with one of the 'ears' of her cap tilted down. He could see her slightly opened mouth letting out soft, mute, and warm breaths. Her hands were balled into fists, clutching the blond transfer student's sheets… and then he noticed that she kept a strong grip on him.

"I… I can't move…" he whisper-shouted to Ichigo with a distressed look on his face.

The strawberry gulped, "Are you kidding me?" he mouthed out before stepping the most humanly silently possible into the room, "The chairman wanted me to find you two." He said through hand motions and the movement of his lips. "I'm not telling him you banged a girl you just met-"

"We didn't do it!" Naruto hissed through gritted teeth before letting the back of his head hit the ground.

Ichigo looked at the blond youth's pajamas, "You're right, with those clothes-"

And before he could continue, the universe decided to be a dick, and the clock started to blare its alarm loudly. Ramlethal's eyes snapped open, and her body instantly mimicked that of a cat's even more when she sat on top of Naruto and rubbed the sand off her eyes with the back of her hand. The girl even let out a brief yawn that made her look all the more feline.

The two boys froze while the girl stopped gathering her thoughts and focused herself once out of her sleep, "Good morning, master." That deadpan tone of hers made all the fear and nervousness disappear. Ichigo fell flat on his face after all the build-up to something he expected to be scary.

Naruto sighed, "Morning, Ram-chan… um… There's a new rule, ok? From now on, you must sleep in your own bed."

She blinked twice, "But I do not possess a bed, master."

He sighed again, "We'll have to find you one."

"But I must remain by your side." She said, her eyes set on his, and he saw a glint from her sharp teeth when she spoke.

"Are you kidding me?!" Naruto would've screamed that, had someone else not shouted it before him: Ryuuko, "I thought the chairman found you a room! I should have known this would happen when I found you were nowhere else!" she grabbed her face, trying to control her blush, "Honestly, this is just too weird now."

Ichigo groaned, "Since when was fighting Shadows normal?"

Ryuuko chuckled tiredly, "Touché… Anyway," she turned to the blondes, "You two better get dressed properly, and that means you have to leave him alone long enough to get into your new clothes." Ryuuko said to the cat-like girl. Ramlethal, once again, blinked twice to show her confusion.

Naruto was equally confused, but settled for staring dumbfounded at Ryuuko, "New clothes?"

Ichigo sighed, "We were informed just now by the chairman. He wanted me to take you to the school since I'm your senior, and Ryuuko was supposed to get her ready." He motioned with his head to the blonde girl, "We don't have all morning, so better get off your lazy ass and start moving." Naruto found his words to be worthy of nervous sweat.

Ryuuko snickered, "Always a charmer." She said with sarcasm filling in her sarcasm cake.

"I'm not going to sugar-coat things for him or anyone when we got a job to do." Ichigo replied sternly, "Let's get today's classes over with and meet where we're supposed to go later." He turned to the blond boy, "Get dressed in your uniform and meet me down in five minutes. Ryuuko, take care of Ram."

Ramlethal tilted her head, with her expressions reaching negative numbers, "Ram?"

"I guess that's a new nickname for you." Naruto commented. "Now, could you get off? We do need to get dressed."

Ryuuko took that as her cue to grab Ramlethal, "You heard him, let's go."

Naruto sighed, just knowing it'd be a long day. He quickly grabbed a spare clean set of his uniform, put on his red baseball hat, and readied himself for school with the schedules the chairman and Satsuki gave him. Now that he could examine them, he noticed that the chairman handed him the schedule with the standard classes, while Satsuki handed him a list of clubs and teams with the name of the captains, leaders and managers of each of them. The list given to him by the icy heavy browed woman also had a schedule for after school hours.

He examined some of the clubs:

-Music Club - Leader: Jakuzure Nonon

-Poetry Club - Leader: Vermillion Noel

-Kendo Club - Captain: Sanageyama Uzu

-Art Club - Manager: Nico Robin

-Baseball team - Manager: Shihouin Yoruichi

-Martial Arts Club - Captain: Arisawa Tatsuki

-Student Council Disciplinary Club - President: Gamagoori Ira

"Well, there is baseball." Naruto stated, not sounding as amused as one would think, "I took that to be better than Sasuke at something..." but now he wasn't there, which meant, "Guess I can choose what to do."

Once with the two schedules in his pocket and everything he needed in a small suitcase, Naruto went down the stairs to find Ichigo there along someone else. It took the blond a few seconds to have his brain register that it was Ramlethal. She was clad in the same outfit that Ryuuko had, minus the sport jacket and with her tie done in a bow-tie rather than a loosened traditional tie. She had the long-sleeved blouse, black miniskirt, long white socks, and brown school shoes. With her admittedly both dorky and awesome hat missing it took Naruto by surprise to see her.

Luckily, her swords weren't around, "You did great, Ryuuko, if I do say so myself." Satsuki complimented the red-streaked girl, "Now, Valentine, do remember what we said."

"Got it." The girl said with a nod, "I am Ramlethal Valentine, a transfer student. Only if asked by someone who isn't a member of the Truth Crafters about my family shall I say that I am an orphan, currently taken care of by Chairman Kiske Ky. I am sixteen years old should I be asked. And when in public I shall call master by his name to avoid drawing suspicions to him or me to avoid anyone taking us apart."

Naruto blinked and turned to the smirking Satsuki, "Incredible. Truly a remarkable mind, human or not." The girl in the pantsuit said.

Ramlethal turned to the white clad girl too, "Can I join master now?"

Satsuki nodded, albeit reluctantly, "You still call him master around us, that may be a problem but nothing that time can't fix." She stared at the girl in thought before turning to the man the blonde girl proclaimed to be her master, "And sorry for the inconvenience. After Mr. Sol and the chairman were done with their research, Ramlethal was forceful on the matter of remaining by your side. We considered the options, and since she means no harm and you trust her, we made a few uses of our power."

The chairman sighed, "I feel dirty about using the system for this, but for now it is for the greater good." He then turned to Naruto, "I know this may be a lot to ask of you, but do you think you could keep her out of trouble?"

Naruto sighed, "I don't have a choice. Even if I wanted to, I can't really leave her behind."

The chairman nodded before leaving, "I shall leave this in your hands for now. I've got paperwork to deal with about our new members."

Ryuuko grinned, "That's good." She stated, with no sarcasm or humor to her voice, just an honest smile. "However, just in case things turn to have a dark side, don't expect us to hold back." She loosened her tie a bit more, "Even if you trust her enough to want to keep her safe, you're one of us now. It'd leave a bad taste in my mouth that you got hurt by someone you trust."

"I'm confident." Naruto said, his voice and face matching his statement to make clear no doubt was in his mind, "I'm even willing to bet on it."

Satsuki crossed her arms, her face stern once again, "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." She said to Ichigo and Ryuuko, "What better way to know who can hurt Naruto than having the opportunity to watch over said threat?"

Ramlethal nodded, "If it is for master's sake, I will allow you to fight me should I become a burden for him."

"Hey, stop talking like that!" Naruto said, sounding and looking angry, "You're no burden for me, how many times do I have to say that?" he sighed, "You're pretty amazing, got it?"

The feline girl blinked twice, but nodded, "Got it… I am… amazing." She said with some effort, like it cost her to understand herself.

Ichigo groaned, "This is just weird. It's like teaching a dog to not piss itself." His crude statement brought stares from the others that quite frankly didn't know how to take such words since they were kind of true.

Naruto turned to Ichigo, his stare almost as stern as the carrot-headed teen's, "She's here, you know?" he stood up to his full height, remaining shorter than Ichigo but still being proud as he spoke, "She can choose whether to come with me and do whatever she wants. I don't understand the whole master deal or why I'm important, but… she's here, she's alive. She can choose her own life."

Ichigo backed away, his face still stern but his hands up in a defensive manner, "Fine, do as you like. Just remember to be careful." He sighed, "If you put that much trust into the wrong person, don't blame me."

"There's no need for meaningless arguments. We know what we're dealing with and we'll be careful about it." Satsuki replied, "After all, part of our job now is to risk ourselves while leaving a few things to luck."

Naruto turned to her, "By the way…" he finally asked, now noticing the teenagers didn't have their golden armbands, "What do you mean Truth Crafters?"

Satsuki closed her eyes, "It's a name we gave ourselves when investigating the Shadows. There is a truth in the Silver World, some hidden meaning for it. We know not what it is, but we use our Personas to craft ourselves accordingly to face the odds there. It's a name we came up with after, admittedly, running out of ideas."

Ryuuko chuckled, "Better than Mercury Queen."

"Hey!" Sol's voice boomed from behind the teens, "Don't disrespect a man's choices, it's his business when it comes to his music."

"Fine, I get it, you love… Oh right," Ryuuko turned to Naruto with a grin, "Want some breakfast? I know I said you'd be lucky to get a plate if you don't wake up early, but we saved you and Ramlethal some food." She then looked up and grinned, "Oh, and if you want to after you're done with Ichigo, how does it sound to eat with me?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side, causing Satsuki to chuckle, "Don't worry, I may have our difference of opinion about Valentine, but you are our comrade from now on. It should be obvious that we want to get acquainted with you. Speaking of wish." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a gold armband, "This is our symbol as Truth Crafters. They have a tracking and communication device in case you're ever in trouble." She looked at the blond in her serious mode, "We will venture in the Silver World sooner or later to show you what we are trying to prevent and for you to learn your way around it. Portgas will come too."

Naruto pocketed the armband and nodded, "Ok, and sure." He added turning to Ryuuko, "Where are we going?"

Ryuuko grinned, "It's a mystery, so keep an empty stomach."

Sol stared at Ramlethal, "I'd like to keep running some tests to analyze a few of my doubts on her, though." He said to the blond, "Will that be ok, or are you in that much desperate need for somebody to love?"

"Hey!" Naruto shouted with pink across his cheeks at the memory of that morning, having nothing smart to say for the first two seconds, "This is her life, whatever she chooses is fine by me so long as she doesn't harm someone who doesn't deserve it." He sighed, "Besides, it'd feel bad for me to force her into anything with the way she acts… I don't know, it just makes me feel bad deep down to just think about it."

Sol grinned, "Think about what?"

Naruto's pink on his face evolved into a glowing red, "Don't put words into my mouth…" he was trying to be smart here:

-Leave

Say something bad about his hairdo

Pull a prank on him

XXXXXX

Naruto swallowed his words and just turned around, seeing no further need to put fuel into the fire. Sol grinned, but Ramlethal turned her emotionless face at him, "I guess I shall remain with master then. He proves to at least have better manners than a grown man acting like a rooster."

XXXXXX

Leave

-Say something bad about his hairdo

Pull a prank on him

XXXXXX

Sol laughed heartily, "You're complaining about my hair when Ichigo's around?!"

Ichigo growled, "Says the one that must spend his entire allowance on hair gel."

XXXXXX

Leave

Say something bad about his hairdo

-Pull a prank on him

XXXXXX

"Oh, hey chairman!" Naruto waved behind Sol's back, said man turned around to see if Ky was there, only to be met with nothing.

Sol then turned around, and he found out that he was alone, "Tch… smartass…"

XXXXXX

Naruto ended up leaving the door, following his seniors Ichigo and Satsuki with Ryuuko by his side, who turned out to be on the same grade as him. The group moved forward with a soft and gentle breeze following them. They chatted mostly about how the school was to give Naruto and Ramlethal a heads up. So far it sounded like a typical school, and Ramlethal herself seemed to absorb everything with surprising ease, but that was because Satsuki was very thorough with her explanations so the idea of a mistake could be easily laughed at, shot down, and pissed on if necessary.

Ace soon joined them, jumping over a fence to get to them, "So, first day at school, right?" Naruto nodded, "Heh, don't worry, I can show you around if you want to."

Naruto nodded, "Sounds fun."

And indeed, this new life seemed to be fun.

But for how long?

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**This chapter was to build up several things, give Naruto his first team of Personas, and set things for the first day of school as well as, you guessed it, their first visit to the Silver World. But for now, here are some things I would've used had this been a game.**

Specials

**Naruto Uzumaki** – Uses clubs, short staffs, and two-handed broadswords like bats.

-Stance: Holds his weapon like a bat, ready to swing.

-Critical: Smashes an enemy down with an overhead strike from his bat, kicks them in the face so they stand up, and finishes it with a textbook homerun swing.

-Summoning Persona: Stabs his chest with his Truth Key.

"Persona!"

"I'm counting on you!"

-Being revived: Naruto jumps back to his feet and adjusts his hat.

"I feel great!"

-Victory: Naruto lowers his weapon and adjusts his hat.

"Heh, that went well."

"I didn't do too bad!"

**Ace Portgas D.** – Uses greaves and gauntlets/fighting gloves with a mixture of kickboxing and street brawling.

-Stance: Fists up and legs spread with one foot back and the other forward, like a boxer.

-Critical: Sends a solid right hook to the enemy, follows up quickly with a roundhouse kick, and steps in order to get some distance for a dashing punch that is seemingly on literal fire.

"Hey, is that it?"

"I've yet to break a sweat!"

-Summoning Persona: Stabs his right palm with his Truth Key.

"Rise up!"

"After them!"

-All-out attack:

"All right, I feel fired up!"

"This is our chance to end this!"

"Let's give them Hell!"

-Protecting: Ace tackles his targeted ally with his shoulder and takes the hit for them.

"Not on my watch!"

"You're not going down!"

-Being revived: Ace gets back up while picking up his cowboy hat.

"I'll pay you back."

-Follow-up: Ace slams his fists together, his right hand suddenly on fire before he dashes at the enemy for a single punch. His fist sinks in their flesh, before a fire explosion knocks them back.

"Let me get this one off your back."

"Mind if I let out a little anger?"

-Victory: Ace pumps up both fists and throws a few punches.

"That almost felt too easy."

"That worked some appetite."

**Ichigo** **Kurosaki** – Uses two handed katanas singlehandedly.

-Stance: Hefts his sword on his right shoulder.

-Critical: Ichigo jumps at the enemy and delivers a downwards strike, then dashes forward to cut their middle body, and spins around to deliver a diagonal slash.

"Out of my way!"

"So long, asshole."

-Summoning Persona: Ichigo stabs his head with the Truth Key.

"Lend me a hand, will you?"

"Let's finish this together."

-All-out attack:

"Let's end their misery!"

"We've got an opening!"

"Shall we finish these ass-clowns?"

-Protecting: Ichigo punts his comrade out of harm's way to take the blow.

"I can take this!"

"Look out!"

-Being revived: Ichigo uses his sword to get back up like a cane.

"That was embarrassing."

-Follow-up: Ichigo raises his blade above his head while a powerful blue aura surrounds him, he opens his eyes and swings down his blade, shooting a crescent moon shaped blade of wind.

"Can I handle this one?"

"You look tired, mind if I kill this bastard?"

-Victory: Ichigo turns around, giving his back to the enemy.

"Well, that's over."

"Finally. Let's move on."

**Ramlethal Valentine** – Uses her large swords with her will and attacks with her claws (Doesn't possess a Persona)

-Stance: Simply floats with her swords and arms at her sides.

-Critical: Ramlethal slashes wildly with her arms, proceeds to kick the enemy a safe distance away, and sends her swords down on the enemy in a crisscrossed dual slash.

"Your existence is the past."

"I shall erase you."

-All-out attack:

"The enemy's defense is wide open."

"Master, shall we finish this?"

"They've outlived their usefulness."

-Protecting: Ramlethal flies in front of her ally, her swords crossed before her even as she takes heavy damage.

"Watch out."

"This is my duty."

-Being revived: Simply floats back up.

"I won't fail again."

-Follow-up: Ramlethal shows her large fanged grin, throws her hands back while large red blades pop from the tip of her swords, and swings them down in a cross-shaped slash.

"Would you like to rest?"

"I can get a clean shot."

-Victory: Ramlethal closes her cloak and floats down.

"Was I useful, master?"

"Satisfactory."

**Ryuuko Matoi** – Holds dual sabers and one-edged swords.

-Stance: Hunched forward slightly, as if ready to pounce, with her swords at her side.

-Critical: Ryuuko swings both swords from her right side in an upward slash, continues spinning with the momentum for a horizontal dual slash, and then jumps up to bring down both swords on the enemy.

"Not even a warm-up!"

"Whew, that was fun."

-Summoning Persona: Ryuuko uses her Truth Key on her wrist.

"Give me your strength!"

"I'm here with you!"

-All-out attack:

"My blood is boiling."

"Time to kick some ass!"

"Can we get this done?"

-Protecting: Bumps her hips against her friends to get them out of harm's way.

"I've got blood to spare!"

"Not you!"

-Being revived: Ryuuko flips herself back to her feet with both swords still in her hands.

"Heh, I'd almost kiss you."

-Follow-up: Ryuuko spreads her arms to the sides, and races forward, jumping head-first at the enemy while her body spins around, becoming a gigantic drill of blades that torn apart the enemy.

"I'm feeling great, can I get this one?"

"Let me take it from here."

-Victory: Ryuuko throws the two swords up and catches them with a smirk.

"Hey, bring a challenge next time!"

"Still haven't lost my way."

**Satsuki Kiryuiin** – Uses traditional katanas in two-handed style.

-Stance: A traditional samurai's pose with the handle beside her head and the blade parallel to the ground, aimed at the enemy.

-Critical: Swings down her sword in a vertical slice, proceeds to ram her sword into her enemy's body which also throws them back, and finishes it off with a dash and a clean slash.

"Barely amusing."

"Not as strong as I expected."

-Summoning Persona: Her Truth Key is forced into the bicep with her armband.

"Grant me your power."

"Become my shield and sword."

-All-out attack:

"Show the enemy no mercy!"

"This is too inviting."

"We can finish it with this blow!"

-Protecting: Satsuki shoves her party member away with one hand in order to get hit for them.

"Not a chance!"

"Be careful!"

-Being revived: Satsuki spins her body around and uses the momentum to get back up.

"I owe you one."

-Follow-up: Satsuki, slowly walks to the enemy, and the next split second she appears behind them, flashes of light from dozens of slashes behind her, killing the enemy.

"I've been waiting for this, do you mind?"

"May I have the honor?"

-Victory: Satsuki sheaths her katana in a traditional manner.

"You've done well, everyone."

"Perfect, I expected nothing less."

**Personas so far!**

Asura (From Asura's Wrath) – The Fool Arcana, a powerful demigod whose rage is unstoppable.

Veigar (From League of Legends) – The Magician Arcana, a dark over the top wizard with many issues.

Pit (From Kid Icarus) - The Chariot Arcana, a cheerful angel boy always eager to do the right thing.

Alucard (From Castlevania, Symphony of the Night design) – The Emperor Arcana, a man with a dark past and darker powers.

Morrigan Aensland (From Darkstalkers) – The Empress Arcana, a succubus who knows many pleasures and enjoys battle.

Dante Sparda (From Devil May Cry) – The Devil Arcana, a laidback demon hunter with a love for pizza and sweet treats.

Missile (From Ghost Trick) – Justice Arcana, a loyal brave little soul that loves to bark.

Magus (From Chrono Trigger) – Death Arcana, a dark sorcerer who has endured horrors to change his world.

**Swordslinger out!**


	3. Chapter 3

I OWN NOTHING

I know I tend to write a lot of stories out of nowhere, but when I get into a new thing I try to see if I can go all the way through. So grit those teeth and let's see where we go… Oh, and bring some meth.

**XXXXXX**

One odd school

"So that place was called the Velvet Room? Intriguing."

Naruto nodded at Satsuki after his explanation, "You guys never heard of it? Are you sure?" they all shook their heads to which the blond replied by looking into the sky like he expected answers from it, "How can that be? I was sure you must have gotten your Personas there. That's how I got mine."

Ace put his hands on the back of his head, "You did dream three times of this place, it can't be a coincidence." He closed his eyes, "Also, a long-nosed geezer and a sinister girl… Sounds like some horror flick."

As the Truth Crafters made their way to school, Naruto had some doubts to clear with them. For starters, if they also signed a certain contract from a certain duo. The Persona users plus the girl from the Silver World walked down a road with no cars in sight. The streets of Inari City were empty and only occupied by pedestrians or people riding bicycles, so the group didn't have trouble talking about their extracurricular events.

Ichigo hummed, "It is certain that getting a Persona is something unique, but the way you described it is unlike ours." He tapped his head with his middle and index right fingers, "I got mine when Satsuki found me. She gave me a Truth Key and then dragged me to that hellhole."

Ryuuko groaned, "Same here. But damn it, Eyebrows, you could've been a lot kinder when dragging us into that place." She exhaled loudly, "You didn't even blink when you showed it to me. I bet you have some pretty good luck at poker with that face of yours. Or perhaps your eyebrows are so big you can't see what to be scared of."

Naruto and Ace cringed, expecting Satsuki to lash at the girl and even beat her up… But Satsuki didn't show any signs of registering the insults, "I grew used to the Silver World after I first entered it." she turned to the two newbies, "I hope you can also find a way to deal with it, Portgas, Uzumaki."

The freckled fighter grinned, "Damn right. I owe those Shadow bastards for trying to hurt Luffy. Also, there's something I got to settle with that guy."

Satsuki nodded, "Ragna, was it?" she had been told everything that happened in the Silver World, so she had a pretty good idea of the man's looks after some detailed descriptions from Ramlethal, "To kidnap a boy and take him into the world that mirrors our own, what could that man be thinking?"

"He does not appear to be a man." Ramlethal stated from her spot, which was a few inches from Naruto, with her head popping over his shoulder, "Traces of an unknown material attached to his body suggest that this Ragna character may prove to be partly human. Also, he is biologically younger than someone who'd be called a man."

"So could he be like you?" Ryuuko asked, now on the tip of her toes.

Ramlethal closed her eyes, "Data is insufficient to prove otherwise."

Satsuki sighed and put a hand on the red-streaked girl's shoulder, "Calm down, Ryuuko. I know we can't trust Valentine, but would you be okay with attacking someone who doesn't want to fight back, or that has yet to show true malicious intent against our comrade?" the shorter girl went silent at the fuzzy-browed girl's words, "While I agree on the need for caution, it's only when someone shows true corruption in their hearts that they should be dealt with."

"Corruption? You mean like them being evil?" Ace asked.

Satsuki smiled briefly, just a split second, before taking on a more taciturn face, "Fear, anger, and ignorance are what effortlessly makes man into nothing but a pig in human clothing. Someone who has no care for their own self can be corrupted. And yet, here she is, without falsehood when it comes to protect our comrade, and influenced by him."

Naruto and Ace scratched their heads through their hats, to which Ichigo replied, "Smaller words, Satsuki. You've lost them."

"No!" Naruto said, "I mean… I think I get it." he said and put a hand on his chest, "Kind of… But, you mean that deep down Ram-chan isn't all that bad because she has us to care for her, right?"

Ramlethal nodded, "Yes, master. You got it." she ended that sentence with a polite bow.

The blond felt his cheeks reddening and heating up, "Hey, there's no need for the bowing. Cut it out, please. It is kind of embarrassing…"

She stood up, "Got it, master."

Satsuki looked forward towards their school, "Valentine, I'd like you to switch to your more informal way to refer to Uzumaki now. Otherwise, your relationship with him will be questioned and jeopardize our team."

The emotionless girl nodded in understanding, to which Ryuuko mumbled, "How can Sasquatch make everyone follow her with such ease?"

Ichigo replied with a whisper, "Because she at least knows what she's saying."

"Ryuuko, Kurosaki, save your banter for after classes." The heavy-browed girl said in a commanding tone without even turning to see the bright haired boy and the informally dressed girl.

Ace stepped back, "Wow, she's cold." He said, holding his cowboy hat with one hand. Naruto nodded in agreement, and just then, a loud voice interrupted them:

"POOOOORTGAAAAAAAAAAAAASSS! MATOOOOOOIIIIIII!"

Said teens cringed, stepping back mostly from the loud yell that echoed all over the school, with the former groaning, "Come on, it's too early in the morning for this."

Naruto could feel the ground shaking beneath his feet, and by all the Personas he held would he swear that there was a gale of wind created by the sonic boom of that voice kicking up dirt and nearly blasting the Persona users and the cat-like girl back with the sheer volume.

Then the ground shook again, this time with a rhythm.

Finally looking up, to the point his neck creaked and threatened to snap from the strain forced by the height difference, Naruto saw the one that called Ace.

It was a giant, and that was the best way to describe the one before him, a gigantic man that looked to be bigger than anyone, and way bigger than the school behind him. He was a student, and wore his uniform neat and tidy with not a single wrinkle. To his clothes' back luck, they may fit him but his body was so bulky that they were heavily marked with muscles over muscles like a bodybuilder. Though the man moved proudly like his outfit was a second skin. He had dark skin, and a cheap haircut with his short blond hair groomed back in an aerodynamic manner.

Satsuki approached the giant, whose uniform was different than Ichigo and Ace's since his was white and his jacket ended around his waist, not near his thighs like the dark clothed teens, "Oh, Satsuki-sama." The man said in a lower, yet still booming voice that commanded respect, and which was so deep it would've fit a war veteran more, "My apologies for my outburst, but as you can see-" and he stopped when his eyes set themselves on his fellow golden haired students.

"Uh, hi…" Naruto said with a wave, trying to ease things up when noticing that Ramlethal was glaring at the giant.

"You, who are you and what're you doing in this school?" the Loud Giant asked, taking a step forward that made the small party of students bounce a few inches off the ground. He then glared at the two dark haired teens that he had called so loudly by their names that alien life stirred to find out the source of the noise, "And you two, we have to talk, so don't think of giving me the slip." The Loud Giant said with his eyes glued to the now nervous teens before setting them slowly on his fellow blond.

"Hey, I am Naruto Uzumaki and… I will be studying here. I just got transferred." The smaller blond replied with a gulp between his sentence. This guy was truly terrifying.

"My name is Ramlethal Valentine. I have recently been transferred here." The feline girl said as commanded by Satsuki.

And then, the giant smiled, a proud smirk on his face, "Ah, I remember now. You were mentioned before. My apologies for my outburst, I assume that you, Uzumaki, still don't have your uniform, but considering you've been transferred I guess the one you're wearing will do since it at least seems to follow your school's regulations." He bowed politely, his head nowhere near Naruto's level, "I am Gamagoori Ira, head of Byakuya High School's Disciplinary Committee."

Satsuki smiled, "Uzumaki, Valentine, this is Gamagoori. He can be considered a true shield for this school. I'd recommend to get acquainted with him." She then turned to the giant who, to Naruto's surprise, got on one knee before the long haired girl, "As for Portgas and Ryuuko, I will take full responsibility for their wardrobe. For now they are with me." She told the large man.

Gamagoori nodded, "All right, then have a nice day, all of you." he stood up and was about to leave, had Ace not spoken.

"Wait, you're leaving just like that?" the freckled boy sounded a bit disappointed.

Ira stopped for a brief second, "Satsuki-sama said you're with her. I expect you to take pride and responsibility in such honor if you don't want me to show you true discipline, Portgas."

Ace tilted his hat down, "Man, he sure changes his mind pretty fast."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

Ichigo replied, "Gamagoori has been grilling Ace and Ryuuko since day one because of how they wear their uniforms." He put a hand to his forehead, eyes closed, "I even believe he has some fetish about discipline. I'd rather not question it anything further since I bet the idea must have already defiled your mind."

Naruto nodded while his face carried dread all over, "Yeah… I think I can live without the mental images."

Ace for his part turned to Satsuki, "Anyway, I owe you a big one, Satsuki. Usually Gamagoori would give me some hour-long speech about how much I disgrace this school with my outfit." He gave a naturally charming grin, as in a grin that looked charming in a way that was not pretentious or forced, and bowed to the girl, "Thank you very much."

Satsuki allowed a smirk to tickle the corners of her mouth, "I only did this because you're with us. But I still expect you to show some respect to your uniform. The school may not be strict about our dress code, but Gamagoori is."

Ryuuko groaned, "No need to tell me twice, girlfriend." She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Last time he gave me a verbal lashing I would have preferred a real lashing with some spiked whip or some shit like that."

Ichigo massaged his temples, "Why must you word things like that?"

The red-streaked girl grinned, "What're you thinking about?"

Ichigo shrugged, "I don't know, about how you have less tact than a nuke and as much intelligence as a wet paper."

Ramlethal turned to Naruto, "Master, this is what people call a comedic duo, correct?"

"Where'd you learn those words?" the blond asked.

"From me." Satsuki answered him swiftly, "Early this morning, the chairman and Sol-san were fighting. I tried to stop them with an insult to how they acted in such a childish way. It's like watching stand-up comedy."

Ace voiced the Fool Arcana user's words, "Is it weird that I can picture that?"

Satsuki shook her head, "Not really, seeing how these two act."

They turned to Ichigo, who had the word, "What do you mean I should get pulled into detention? Is it my hair? I've told you that this is the color I was born with. And I sure as hell ain't dyeing it."

Ryuuko chuckled cockily, "Can you actually blame him? I mean, look at a mirror. Your hairdo makes me want to find some orange flavored candies."

"Well, I want to pull that damn red bang of yours and see if your hair turns into a feather duster." Ichigo replied with a sneer.

Satsuki embarrassingly covered her face with one hand, "You three will eventually manage to get used to this, Portgas, Uzumaki, Valentine."

While actually fearing the idea of getting used to the banter, Naruto replied, "Got it," the mentioned trio replied with an equally deadpan simultaneous voice.

Ace added his own two cents, "They're like kids, and I don't say that lightly." He grabbed his hat and moved it to block his view of the childish teens arguing like kids. The freckled teen then turned to the blond, "Oh right, now that I remember, what class are you in, Naruto?"

The blond pulled out the schedule the chairman gave him, "It says here that I'm on Class 2… K?"

Ryuuko stopped arguing with Ichigo, "Hey, is that my class?"

"Aren't schools supposed to have fewer classes than the ones needed to reach letter K?" Ramlethal asked, her head tilted curiously to the side.

Ace snorted, "Haven't you seen the school yet, or was Gamagoori too big to see a thing?" He hooked his thumb to the school, showing a building that while looking like any contemporary Japanese high school had to be big enough to hold the entire city in, "Inari City may be a small place, but the principal… Let's just say he makes things worth sending anyone here." He sighed in the end, "Even if some are kind of a pain."

Satsuki smiled, "You're lucky that we have our own dormitory, Uzumaki. It is the smallest of all the dormitories, but has the advantage of being able to move freely wherever you want to."

Naruto whistled, the school as big indeed, very.

XXXXXX

Our hero's first class was an unusual case, to say the least.

For starters, his homeroom teacher was… a very small woman. And that was the one way to describe her at first glance. Black short hair that reached her chin with a pitch black bang between her eyes, a white dress with a black business jacket, and a small body with little to no curves that made Naruto quite frankly wonder if this woman was a high school girl trying to play a prank on everyone.

Why would he think that? Because there was an awfully drawn bunny in the blackboard, like a kid's drawing, which held a board of some sort in its stubby hands and the blond youth's name on it. The awfully drawn bunny also had Naruto's whisker marks, his baseball hat, and an expression livelier than the other bunny on the board. The rabbit to the other side of Bunny-Naru was Bunny-Ram, and as you readers might have correctly guessed it was a bunny drawing with Ramlethal's hair, a shark-toothed mouth that showed no smile or emotion, and a board with the girl's name.

"Ok, everyone!" the Cheerful Teacher shouted, silencing the class with her loud voice, "Time to introduce our new students! They've just transferred now so make sure to make them feel welcomed! Like how I did just now!" she proudly motioned to Bunny-Naru and Bunny-Ram, "Just now, our collection of Chappies is getting bigger!" she proclaimed, hands on her hips and her flat chest pushed up.

Ace tilted down his hat from his seat near the back, "Poor them, they had to get into Kuchiki-sensei's class… Oh heck, this should build character for them."

The teacher's lips curled into a wide smile that made Ramlethal tempted to get in front of Naruto, "How about you introduce yourselves properly for the class? You may have gotten your own Chappy now, but as students you will need to be politely introduced to everyone with your first step."

Asura grumbled in Naruto's head, '_**Just get this over with, kid.**_' The blond could hear and shared the embarrassment of his Persona of the Fool Arcana.

"Uh, hi. My name's Naruto Uzumaki. I'm sixteen. I've transferred from Konoha High and arrived just yesterday." He tilted up his cap to look at everyone and manage a confident smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The Cheerful Teacher beamed, "Good going, Naruto-kun!" she approached the blond with a single step, "How about you share something that you like, enjoy, or plan to do?"

Naruto felt a bit distressed but did his best to reply:

-"What I really like is ramen!"

"I got nothing planned, really."

"Um… finding a good girlfriend?"

XXXXXX

Naruto gave his answer full of confidence, pumping a fist, and causing sweat to build behind most heads, "Huh, didn't expect that answer." Ace commented with his hat down, pretending he didn't see a thing.

The petite woman smiled awkwardly, "Perhaps it'd be best if you took your seat now. But I applaud the joy in your voice." Naruto turned at her confused of why she acted like that now of all times.

XXXXXX

"What I really like is ramen!"

-"I got nothing planned, really."

"Um… finding a good girlfriend?"

XXXXXX

"Then don't worry." The teacher said with her beaming smile, "You just have to find something you're good at! Why, you could join Ryuuko-chan and I in making Chappy pictures!"

"So long as he doesn't share her drawing style, I'm okay with it." Ryuuko mumbled in silence to Ace who turned to the girl after he raised a brow to inquire what the teacher meant.

XXXXXX

"What I really like is ramen!"

"I got nothing planned, really."

-"Um… finding a good girlfriend?"

XXXXXX

"My, what boldness!" The teacher said with a hand on each cheek while several students started to chat about Naruto's declaration, a few female students giggling as they gossiped.

Ryuuko deadpanned, "That wasn't boldness; it sounded like a strangled cat trying to speak up to a blood thirsty dog."

"Huh, he does have whiskers." Ace observed, "But that analogy… Yeah, kind of accurate considering Kuchiki-sensei's true colors…" his face was calm but said he didn't enjoy the memory he got.

"Tell me about it." Ryuuko replied with a chuckle.

XXXXXX

"Well, Naruto-kun, I am Kuchiki Rukia and shall be your homeroom teacher. But I believe that how's the turn of our second transfer student." The cheerful teacher said, making a hand motion to Ramlethal.

The girl replied in her usual monotone, "I am Ramlethal Valentine. I am sixteen years old. I am currently under Chairman Kiske's care." She turned to Rukia, who motioned for her to go on which caused the girl to blink twice, "Should I say something personal about me?" Rukia nodded, which made the three Persona users in the class gasp at what the blonde girl could say, "For me, the most important thing right now is to…" she closed her eyes and took a brief pause, "Focus on my studies."

Ryuuko's forehead slammed her desk, muffled by the sound of students talking of the weird but cute girl, and the dry thud of her face on the hard surface was silenced along her fellow Truth Crafters' sighs of relief, "Damn it, Eyebrows, you're really good at setting a plan for every possible situation." She said with a small smile before looking at Ramlethal.

And then, the blonde girl turned to Naruto, "Naruto, may I remain by your side?"

It was like a balloon had been popped, any sound that came afterwards had been killed by that burst. And like a bubble blowing up before one's eyes, it made people see things differently, "Oh my!" Rukia said, a hand to her mouth and her cheeks a blazing red, "S-Such boldness! I mean… I'm at a loss of words!" she then stared at Ramlethal with wide eyes, and a smile that truly unnerved Naruto, "Oh, to confess such affection for someone like that, how I'd enjoy having such inner strength!"

Ramlethal tilted her head to the side in confusion, "My main priority is to keep him safe, it is my one desire."

One student, a boy, raised his fist up and shouted, "Wow! Well done, Uzumaki! Nailed yourself a cute one!"

A girl looked at the loud faceless boy in disgust, "You pig… How can you say that? I mean, what if he took her by force?"

Ramlethal blinked twice, "Only once was I held roughly by Naruto." She said, silencing everyone's voice, "It was when he protected me with his life. That is why I will protect him."

The silence was like a buzz; digging into everyone's ear to leave them deaf, '_**Naru-boy, you're playing good!**_' the blond heard the white haired gunslinger shout, with Morrigan giggling at the situation.

The teacher found herself forced to break the silence with a very awkward smile, "Well, that is interesting, but we have to leave all the details for later. Now we have classes. You two may sit back between Matoi and Portgas over there."

Naruto did as told, with Ramlethal seated on her right, Ryuuko to his left, and Ace behind him to poke his shoulder, "How's it feel to have become the school's number one gossip theme for the rest of the semester?" the freckled street brawler asked, and Naruto needn't turn back to know he had a shit-eating grin.

Things just got awkward, Naruto knew it before his forehead met his desk to let all the embarrassment sink in.

Ramlethal finally spoke, "Did I do something wrong, Naruto?"

Ryuuko palmed her face, "We need to have a serious girl talk after this, Ram. I may not be too girly, but you need the advice."

The emotionless girl nodded, "Got it."

XXXXXX

"How long has he been like that?" Ichigo asked at the small group of sophomores to find Naruto sulking on his desk.

"Long enough for it to stop being fun." Ryuuko replied.

Ramlethal nodded, "Naruto appears to be on some sort of mental trauma, not quite threatening to his psyche but still something he needs to grow out of."

Ace scratched his right temple with his index finger, "I guess explaining it all to you is a task truly out of human hands." He said with mixed embarrassment and puzzlement.

It was lunch and several students put their desks together to eat. Ryuuko had done so to talk to Naruto and Ace after what happened, and Ramlethal did the same, but the blond had remained with his forehead glued to the hard surface of his desk. As few students had whispered all kind of things about the weird group, and to see Ichigo there was the icing on the cake.

"Isn't that Kurosaki-senpai? Hey, I heard he is insanely dangerous, like one time he fought some yakuza and sent them to a hospital." Said redhead clenched his jaw slightly, tightening his hands into fists.

"And Matoi's with them, she is the worst too. There are rumors that she once beat up a girl from the cheerleading club for looking at her funny." Ryuuko looked down, her hand nearly snapping her chopsticks.

"Did you know they arrived to school together with the transfer students? Not only that, but they were with Satsuki-sama."

"No way! You mean that punk of Portgas got near the queen of this high school?!" Ace covered his eyes with his hat, ignoring it all, "I can understand Uzumaki and Valentine, but those three-"

"Would you shut your pie-holes?!"

The entire school blinked. Ichigo felt like he lost his breath for an instant, Ryuuko's eyes widened and Ace pulled back his hat to see who had roared that last question. It was Naruto, who stood tall and proud with anger in his eyes. Ramlethal for her part remained where she was, but observed the students staring in fright at Naruto with her claws ready just in case.

The small group of gossipers stared at him, "What're you so worked up about, transfer student?" one girl pointed at Ryuuko, "You're better off with Valentine than any of those guys. Trust us, they're the worst. They will get you in trouble and-"

"And does it look like I care?!" Naruto snapped at her, "Do you even know what they're like?!" he raised a fist at the girl, "Tell me then, what's Ryuuko's favorite food? What band does Ichigo like? What's the name of Ace's favorite person in the world?"

One male student growled, "Are you crazy? Why should we care about them?"

Naruto growled, "Then why do you think you have the right to talk like you know them?! As a matter of fact, why should I care who I associate myself with when you hyenas talk like you can brand others?"

"Is that the best insult you got?" one student mocked the blond, who was about to step towards him had Ichigo not put his hand on the baseball player's shoulder.

The redhead spoke calmly, "Don't do it, they're not worth getting so worked up?"

Naruto turned to the senior student, "I know…" he sighed and looked down, "Sorry… I lost my cool there. I just can't stand people talking crap about others behind their backs. It's like…" and here he made sure he spoke loud enough to be heard, "they're just cowards trying to act smart when they can't even say anything to someone's face."

The group of gossipers stood up, "What did you say, you-" and then one to speak shut up instantly when Ace and Ryuuko stood up as well.

Ace crossed his arms, "You were talking stuff about us so happily before. What? Ran out of funny things to say now that we're not turning our backs?" he had a stern look that said he was expecting a wrong answer.

Ryuuko sneered, "We're not here to be pleasant to you, you got that?" she looked down on the student that talked of her, "If you got a problem, we'd like to hear it now."

The gossipers backed away, and left the classroom. Naruto sighed, "You didn't need to do that. Now we look like thugs."

Ace chuckled, "Heh, like that'd change anyone's opinion… However…" he tipped his hat, "You can call us even."

Before Naruto could ask what Ace meant, Ryuuko punched his shoulder, "Don't try to do anything as foolish as that again, understood? We can stand up for ourselves… So consider this our way of saying thanks."

Ichigo put his hand on his face, "Enough of that. I had urgent business with you two, Naruto, Ace." He pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket and handed it to the boys, "Make sure to follow this map. I'll meet you at the destination point."

Ryuuko smirked, "Oh come on, someone finally did something nice for you. Don't be stingy with the gratitude."

Ichigo scowled, like the idea of thanking Naruto on Ryuuko's orders hurt him, "I…" he turned to Naruto, "Will see you there, right after classes."

And with that he left, unaware of how Ramlethal had stared at the gossipers.

Ryuuko finally asked, "So, now that I think about it… do you know the answers of what you just asked?" she asked curiously, arms crossed.

Naruto smiled and nodded, "Your favorite food is croquettes, you mentioned how you loved ones someone made so it was easy to see that. Ichigo's room may be a bit away from mine but when I was getting changed I heard the song News from the Front by Bad Religion. As for Ace, well, that's kind of obvious after all he did when we first met."

Ace grinned, "Ok, so you are smart. Good to know I can get answers from someone now."

Naruto nodded, feeling a warmth work its way into his chest.

XXXXXX

"That new student is really something. He didn't hesitate to stand up for the Legendary Three Devils of this school."

"Get out, sister! Are you sure you're talking of the same three guys that get Gamagoori-senpai angry even on good days?!"

"Yeah! Not only that, but that kind of cute girl with him, Ram-whatever, is seriously trying to get into his pants."

"Well, I heard he was like, real manly when protecting those three. Even that weird new girl said he protected her life."

"Do you think… he may be an actual knight in shining armor?"

"Pfft! As if! But… I'll admit, he is kind of hot in a weird, dorky way. Not as hot as Portgas, though."

XXXXXX

Classes had ended, and Naruto shivered, "Hey, what's up, did you get a cold?" Ace asked his blond classmate.

The blond shook his head, "I got no idea. It felt like I should fear something."

"You're a major weirdo at times, you know?" Ace said with a smirk, "Well, we should go and meet Ichigo-senpai. What would Ramlethal do now?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know. Ryuuko kind of dragged her away, said it was urgent."

The cowboy hatted boy hummed, "Well, she did speak of girl stuff, maybe she wants to bond with her. Sure, she doesn't trust her, but that doesn't mean she can't try… Or Ryuuko really needs a friend that badly."

"I don't care, so long as Ramlethal doesn't try to murder anyone or anything." Naruto replied, "I just hope they talk with Satsuki-senpai to settle things after what just happened."

Ace grinned wider, "Man that was fun! I swear, your face was redder than your uniform. I'm going to keep that in my mind for a long time."

"Please don't." Naruto asked with a hand on his face.

After pulling out the map that Ichigo had given them, Naruto and Ace moved forward through the streets with Ace acting as a guide for the newcomer: "Oh, this place is good." Ace commented, nearing a small pub, "They got great steaks, beef bowls, and anything you can think of."

They had arrived to a street that had small shops and establishments on every corner, leading to a large mall that still didn't take away most of the attention judging by the students that went from place to place and some families or workers either visiting, shopping or grabbing a bit to eat.

"Baratie…" Naruto read the name out loud, "Sounds kind of fancy."

"It is, but they cook for good and reasonable prices. If you have the money, this is the best place to have a date without hurting for it." Ace commented, "I know the owner, he's a hardass, but a good guy deep down."

"How do you know him?" the blond asked.

Ace sighed, "At the orphanage I live in, there's this kid, Sanji. The owner of this place took him in, and still visits that little rascal." He then chuckled, "The two get along like cats and dogs, always arguing and even fighting!" he laughed a bit more, "But the old man always comes to teach Sanji how to cook. My little brother now bugs the poor kid every day to make a meal for him."

"Ah, Luffy, right?" Naruto asked, seeing Ace this happy when talking about a little kid did merit looking into it, but maybe later, "We do need to fight those Shadows and that Ragna to keep him and others safe."

Ace nodded with a determined glare, "Right… That guy…" his mood surely soured, "This time with my own Persona, I will stand up to him." he then grinned when turning to the blond, "Or rather, we will. I'm counting on you to have my back in that creepy place. Hell, I may even share a cup of sake with you when we're done if you do a good job."

Naruto chuckled, "Sure, I'd enjoy that."

The teens finally made their way to their destination, an empty lot covered only in dirt, with a wooden, small, and traditional Japanese house that happened to be a candy store.

Ichigo was there, "I hope you've done enough sightseeing." He said in his usual grumbling voice.

Ace sighed tiredly, "Boy, can you at least cheer up, senpai? We did make it on time."

The orange head sighed, "Just be ready for it…"

Before either of the two new Truth Crafters could ask what he meant, a loud voice announced itself, "My! My my my my! So here they are! These new additions to your little club look quite… gullible like you, Kurosaki-san!" it was a melodious male voice.

The owner came in with shaggy blonde hair, a green gi and matching green hakama cut to be like short pants, wooden sandals, and a green and white striped bucket hat that shadowed his eyes, with one long bang between his eyes. The man, apparently the candy shop owner, also had a cane but with the skip on his step he didn't need it. It was for show, the two other teens noticed.

Ichigo put his entire face on his right hand, "This is Kisuke Urahara. He may look like a candy shop owner nutjob… But that is because he is a candy shop owner nutjob with delusions of grandeur and a bad sense of humor." The way he said that with a tone flatter than Ramlethal's dead voice did put the two recently arrived Persona users at a loss. "He is also the one who'll supply you with weapons."

The man, Urahara, pulled out a fan from some pocket dimension, and covered his mouth with it, "Well, kind of rude there, Kurosaki-san. But no matter! I've got two new clients to buy more than just my sweet delights!" he laughed a bit, "Shall we help you two fine gentlemen pick your poison?"

Ace finally spoke, "Wait a minute, how the Hell does someone like you sell weapons?!"

Ichigo replied, "He used to work for the yakuza, the crime syndicate of another city."

Naruto stepped back, "Then how or why do you know a guy that dangerous?!"

"I've retired." The bucket hat man replied, "I still got some connections to make a living when things get tough. I was approached by an old friend," he pointed his now folded fan at the teens, "Sol was real kind when sealing this deal with me. I get you kids to buy my weapons, and I don't have to worry about those pesky Shadows coming to annoy me." He grinned widely, "So go on, I am hoping to see you become true warriors of justice or some stuff. Make sure to walk by to buy some good weapons too, and some candy if you're having a killer sweet tooth."

Ace stared at the man, trying to read him and failing miserably, "Do I even want to know how you and Sol know each other?"

Ichigo sighed, "None of them want to say, so don't bother." He then urged the two teens to come in, "Just buy what you need. That's why the chairman gave you an allowance."

The two teens nodded and did as told. They walked past shelves filled with candy, and found a little girl with an expression so gloomy and miserable that they could almost see ghosts floating around her, as if daring the two teens to go near her in order to take their souls. She had a pair of black pigtails, a white shirt, and a yellow skirt. Her face void of happiness and emotion rivaled Ramlethal's, even if this one had a round and childish innocent tone to it.

"Welcome…" she said in a tone as gloomy as her appearance before scanning the teens. "I'll be right back." She bowed and left.

The two boys turned to each other, trying to ask what happened, only for the little girl to come back in a split second. The little thing, possibly around Luffy's age if not a little older, came back into the room with some heavy weapons, and by heavy that meant that the teens saw no way someone as small as her could be carrying them with the effortless ease she did.

She extended a hand to Naruto, "Eh? For me?" she nodded, and thus he grabbed the weapon she granted him. It was a simple two-handed broadsword, with a double-edged blade meant more for slashing than stabbing, a black handle, and a steel guard and pummel.

She nodded again, "A perfect fit." She stated in her gloomy tone before handing Ace his own set.

"Um… Thank you?" he asked, not sure how to reach when he held up a pair of red fighting gloves with a special steel guard on the knuckles, said guard had hard spikes that made the gloves quite deadly. And he was also given a pair of steel greaves with spikes on the shins, the spikes being so pointy and sharp looking that neither teen dared to touch them.

She bowed to them, "That's be… um… three thousand and five hundred yens each."

Naruto blinked, "Wait, what if I wanted a gun?" he asked staring at his new sword the dark little girl gave him.

Urahara hummed a merry tune, "Ururu is one of a kind. She can read what kind of weapon fits a customer. Also, guns need ammo, and if you could pay the high prices for it with the Japanese laws trying to keep everyone safe and sound, I'd be more than happy to provide them."

Seeing how nearly all his money was gone, Naruto shook his head miserably, "No need, then." He lifted the sword in both hands, like a baseball bat, and noticed that it wasn't any different than his steel bat, if only way lighter. Ace put on his new gloves and took a few practice swings, with a grin at the end at the sound of the air rippling out of his knuckles' way.

"Oh, there you are!" The group turned to see Ryuuko there, with Ramlethal walking behind her to try to reach the man she called master, only for the delinquent looking girl's hand to reach her shoulder, "Wait there, you and I still have much to talk with Eyebrows after what you did today." She said seriously but didn't lose her smile, "Anyway, I hope all of you are hungry."

As if on cue, Ace's stomach rumbled loudly, making him chuckle but not sheepishly, it was like he found it to be funny, "Yeah, I could grab a bite."

"So, you're inviting us for lunch? Nice." Naruto stated.

The red-streaked girl turned to the orange head, "You're also invited, if you can manage to get that stick out your ass."

Ichigo groaned, "Last time I went there…" he grabbed his face yet again to control himself, "I don't want to remember, ok? Urahara is more than enough on the weird department."

"My, how rude." The bucket hat man said, but with his tone still coming out as a song.

"Well, neither Luffy nor I will turn down food so long as we get to chow." Ace stated with a large grin, "Lead the way then!"

Naruto turned to Ichigo, "What should I be worried about?"

The redhead turned to him, and then sighed, "I think you may like it there if you get along with Ryuuko… Just try to stand up what's going to happen, ok?"

Naruto nodded, to which Ryuuko cheered, "All right, let's go! I'm starving too!"

The blond baseball player spoke up, "Hey, do you know a good ice cream shop along the way?" he asked, making an albino cheer in his head.

Ichigo sighed, "I'll carry your weapons for you. Ryuuko and Ram should know where to go." he turned and left after getting his new comrades' weapons under his arm.

The red-streaked girl narrowed her eyes briefly, "What do you mean should? Just because I got lost the first two times doesn't mean I don't know the way."

Ichigo silently left, leaving Ramlethal to stare curiously at Ryuuko, "Ryuuko-san, is this why you described Ichigo-san as an a-"

The high school girl clamped her mouth over Ramlethal's in an instant, "Wait, wait, don't finish that word! There's a kid here!"

A muffled "Got it." was her response.

XXXXXX

"Here it is!"

Ryuuko didn't take the three teenagers, since Ichigo had left leaving Naruto only with Ace and Ramlethal for support, to stare at the small building before them. But here they were, staring at the small place. Small was the kindest thing to call the wooden abode. It was made so only five or so people could live in if they slept on the floor, windows were broken, and there was a large colorful sign that read "BACK-ALLEY CLINIC!"

Ramlethal blinked twice, "Ryuuko-san, if you require a medical examination of master and I, I can assure you the chairman and Mr. Sol have run tests on me. As for my master, he shows a healthy complexion despite an unbalanced diet of ramen nearly every day. Not only that, anatomically speaking he-"

"RYUUKO-CHAN!"

And all common sense ended when Ryuuko had to side-step a charging blur of blue, white and brown. With a single leap a very strange girl stood up. After meeting Ururu, it was like seeing the other end of the cheer spectrum with this girl. Her smile, wide brown eyes, and way of standing up instantly after planting her face on the ground were full of energy and joy. She stood actually shorter than Ryuuko who already wasn't very tall. Her hair was like a brown coconut, giving her a mousy and innocent appearance. What stood out, along her white and blue sailor uniform, was the fact she was stacked to the ceiling.

Naruto forced his eyes up when the girl's most notorious bits of flesh jiggled once she stood up, "Aw, Ryuuko-chan, you're so mean! Aren't you supposed to catch your bestie?!" The Air-headed Girl cried, hugging Ryuuko tightly.

Said red-streaked girl sighed with a warm smile, "Sorry, Mako. It's just that your hugs tend to be too forceful at times."

The girl, Mako, pried herself off Ryuuko albeit with some reluctance shown on the way she kept her hands on Ryuuko's sides, "I'm not letting go of the things I care about, you know that! Mankanshoku Mako may be an underachiever, sleep in classes, eat her lunches during a teacher's speeches, and have no idea of the big words you or Satsuki-chan use, but I'm the Mankanshoku that loves you the most!"

The two boys cringed when Mako hugged Ryuuko with such strength that they heard the poor feather haired girl's bones crack. Ramlethal stared with blank eyes, "Ryuuko-san appears to be in danger. Master, should I strike this loud girl that harms your companion?"

"Don't even joke about it." Naruto was too tired to put energy into his words, so it came out as a deadpan before he sighed, "This girl seems to be a good friend of Ryuuko's. We may as well try to get to know her."

"Oh, who are you?!" the brunette said in wonder after dashing at the teens. Her smile widened, "Oh! I know! You're Ryuuko-chan's new friends that she talked about! She didn't say much, but my mom made a lot of croquettes the other night so I thought of getting to know you. The best way to get to know someone you don't understand is to have friends, croquettes, a warm smile, and clean underwear!"

Ace deadpanned, "How does that make sense?" he asked Ryuuko flatly.

The hot-blooded girl grinned, "It does in her own Mako way. But she says there is food for us. We can't let it go to waste!"

Mako pumped her arm, "Yeah, after all, if the Mystery Croquettes aren't eaten within a day they may mutate to Mystery Croquettes X: Last Stand for Mankind Edition!"

Ramlethal turned to the man she identified as master, "Naruto, am I correct to assume this is what people call a comedy act?"

The blond sighed, "I can't figure out if this is a joke or if it's for real."

"I'd bet on the second." Ace replied, "Stuff like that can't be said by normal people, and she seems serious about it." he chuckled, "Though that makes this feel like home." And he replied before the whiskered boy could make his question, "I'll leave the details for later if you don't mind."

The odd quintet all sat inside the very small, minimalistic Japanese house surrounding a large plate with a mountain of croquettes. Inwardly, Naruto was contemplating Mt. Everest if the world's peak were made of angry tigers with smaller angrier tigers for teeth. Ace for his part licked his lips along Ryuuko and got some croquettes for himself. And to illustrate why Naruto felt overwhelmed by the food, in the five croquettes Ace grabbed there were an octopus tentacle, a chicken bone, a fish tail, and an earthworm which just wiggled, and that was from just one.

The ever cheerful Mako patted the blond boy's back, "Come on and eat up! It's unidentifiable stuff made into delicious croquettes, and there's more unidentifiable stuff made into miso soup if you want some!"

The blond turned to Ramlethal, "Hey, Ram-chan, how are your croquettes?" he asked nervously.

The girl opened her mouth, showing her sharp set of shark teeth. Ace and Ryuuko finally noticed the row of daggers she had for teeth mid-bite, and she munched on an entire croquette with a single bite. Her cheeks bulged while she tasted and crushed her food into paste with ease. It was with an audible gulp that she swallowed it and turned to Naruto with her ever present deadpan expression.

"This strange mixture of animal, mineral, and fried dough ingredients appears to be harmless to the human body." She blinked twice, "It also has a bouquet of flavor that makes my taste buds tingle in excitement."

Naruto, who had already seen her teeth, turned to the croquettes, "No way…" he took one and took a small nibble out of it, finding his taste buds dancing sooner than later, "Wow, this is actually good!"

Mako gave him two thumbs up, "It's mom's recipe for making the best out of the worst! Don't underestimate my family's will to live! Sure, my father may be a bad doctor, my little brother may get into fights and try to scam people, and I may not get anything at all at school, but mom's croquettes always bring happiness to us!"

"Hey, Ryuuko, you saw those teeth, right?" Ace asked.

"Yeah… I'm not making any smartass comments on that."

"Me neither."

Naruto simply enjoyed the food with his comrades in arms, his bodyguard, and the cheerful hostess. It was good to relax in order to face what would come next.

XXXXXX

"Good to see you have finally arrived."

Satsuki's voice was like the sea, sometimes cheerful and others, like this one, calm yet overwhelming with power. And overwhelmed described the new recruits very well for Satsuki was armed with a white and silver katana which blade had to be drawn, and Ichigo had a nodachi, a Japanese two-handed katana with a length that rivaled his, hefted on his right shoulder singlehandedly. Ichigo's sword had a pitch black handle, guard and sheath with a brown leather belt that kept the sheath strapped to his back. It was worth noting that they had their armbands with them.

The chairman and Sol were there, at the basement of the apartment building the Trust Crafters lived at. After coming down a couple of stairs, walking through a large and empty hall, the group met the two men at the other end of the hall. The hall itself was large, made with a floor of pure stone and with white painted walls. The illumination was nicely set, and it all lead to a large mirror that covered the entire wall before the teens, signaling a dead end. On a wall near the large mirror were several computers built into the walls with large wires plugged into the mirror, many blinking lights, and some screens.

"We had to wait for someone to get changed." Ace pointed to the blonde emotionless girl - now back to her questionably revealing outfit - that remained within a two feet radius from the Fool Arcana user. "Anyway, we're here, that's what counts, right?"

Ryuuko moved with a smirk, "I've wanted to do some exploring in the Silver World. How could I miss it?" she walked to a table which had an array of weapons, the ones that Naruto and Ace bought among them, along Ramlethal's swords. The red-streaked girl grabbed a pair of cutlasses with red handles and steel handguards, strapping them to the belt on her skirt.

The chairman spoke up, "Do not take it lightly, Ryuuko. The Silver World is dangerous, no matter what Persona you have."

"Boy Scout's right." Sol commented, "Either you brats keep your eyes on the road, or you'll have you asses played like bongos by any Shadow sneaking behind you."

The chairman closed his eyes tiredly, "As Sol said, though in less crude manners, you are all in danger at all times when in the Silver World. It's a place that will drain your energy. Your Personas will keep you alive and with your spirits up, but should you get tired from fighting Shadows, do come to us as soon as possible."

Sol turned his head to the side, "I'm afraid to tell you we don't have any medical insurance for this shit and that none of us knows proper first-aid stuff. So if you get seriously hurt, you better haul ass."

Ace nodded, "I see. However, I wanted to ask this for a while." He stood up to the two men, "What are we fighting in the Silver World? I know we'll face Shadows, but I know that can't be it." he gave Sol a glance, "You said that someone played with it, and while you don't know much, you certainly aren't telling us everything."

Ky nodded, "It is as he says. Sol has his reasons, and they have no malice or ill-intent, that I can assure you." he looked down, "If anything, his reasons and mine match."

Ace crossed his arms, "I am doing this for my little brother, but why are you two even here?"

Sol growled at the boy, "That Man, the one that shat on the Silver World, he is someone the world could benefit from having him dead." He closed his eyes, "I used to know him, work with him, or so I thought. Things turned out pretty grim when his true colors were shown. When it all started, people died because of him. And now he is hiding somewhere, and my best bet is that he must be planning something inside the mirrors."

Ace remained where he was, "So he's our easily identifiable bad guy. Do you really think I'm going to buy only that?" he gave Sol a stoic look, "I know you two aren't telling us something. Do you trust us that little or are you too ashamed to come up with the truth? If you're doing it because you're worried about us, then save us the trouble and come out with it."

"I trust them." Naruto said simply with a small smile.

Ace stepped back from the shock, "That was fast!"

The blond chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I know. The thing is that I don't think they are lying." He looked at the mirror, "The Shadows are a danger not only to Persona users. There are kids like Luffy who can be targeted by them and even dragged there." He tilted up his hat with a grin, "I was there once, but for a moment I felt helpless, like I could do nothing, that I was just useless. Ramlethal even threw her life away for mine without a second thought." He stared determined forward, "I don't want anyone to feel like that, to have to face the fear of losing someone, no matter how little they got to know them."

Sol chuckled, "Sounds like you have a reason for not being an idiot. Good enough for me." He turned to the others, "That is his choice. Are you all sure you don't want to back out?"

Satsuki smiled, "I wouldn't stand here if that weren't the case."

Ichigo stepped forward, "The sooner this is done, the better."

Ace rubbed the tip of his nose, "Fine, I guess I'll tag along. I may as well get answers of why Luffy was put in harm's way."

Ramlethal floated closer to Naruto, "I shall protect master. That is my one desire."

Satsuki chuckled, "Speaking of desires, Naruto, don't try to play hero for Ramlethal."

Naruto blushed, "Beg pardon?"

Said blonde girl turned to the fuzzy browed council president, "I won't let master put his life in risk, I can assure you that."

Ryuuko snickered, "Oh, we so need a talk when we're done with this. Ok then," she turned to the new recruits, putting on her own armband, "you three get set, I'll be your guide into this place."

The chairman nodded, "Sol and I shall provide the back-up. We will monitor you through the Silver World, at the best of our abilities. If you are in trouble, Ichigo and Satsuki here will pull you out."

Ichigo nodded, "Before any of you yaps about needing more hands to deal with this, think on what'd happen if all of us entered this place and got our asses kicked."

The street brawler agreed, "Yeah, that wouldn't be pretty." He pulled up his hat, put on his armband, and readied his gloves and greaves, "What're we supposed to do?"

The chairman answered, "For now you two need to get used to your Personas and the Silver World. Fight some low-level Shadows and get back. If you find large Shadows then don't be afraid to run. And if we tell you to run from an enemy, don't hesitate and follow that order. Again, I cannot stress enough how dangerous the place is, and if you're at your enemy's mercy then know they're not charitable with it, at all."

"I kind of got that impression when we met that Deidara creep." Ace replied with a sheepish grin, "Well, shall we finally step in?"

Naruto, with Ramlethal right behind him and with her swords floating to her sides, stepped forward towards the mirror. His broadsword in hand, armband in his left biceps, and a shaky hand, he reached for the mirror. It was cold to the touch at first, and soon his fingers sunk into the surface. He kept his eyes opened, a determined glare aimed at his reflection, and stepped in.

What he instantly noticed was that the air felt heavier, his body also got that soreness on the legs that signified extra weight. But he could stand it, and thus remained tall. Ramlethal floated right in after him and stood glued to his side. Ryuuko jumped into the reverse basement with a flip, while Ace stepped in with his hat tilted up to see where he was.

"Not even a second of hesitation, that's good." They heard Satsuki from behind the portal that was the mirror. They turned to see her and the others, "I can't see you, but I know you can hear and see me; to be in the Silver World means that you are in a world that no soul can see. It is a reflection of our world, yet something between a dream and reality."

"And the Shadows are the nightmares." Ichigo continued, "Do yourselves a favor and keep your guard up. Even if that place you're in can be considered our dormitory, it is a place filled with Shadows. The streets, homes, establishments, and every alley in there are packed with Shadows."

Satsuki spoke again, "Valentine, since you know the layer of the world better than others, I hope you make honor to Uzumaki's trust by showing them the way. Ryuuko, you will also make sure that the path is safe with your experience. And since my Persona's ability allows me to see deep into the Silver World, I shall keep you informed on any changes to the Shadows' movement."

The chairman nodded, "However, you do need someone to take decisions regarding your next move. We can't make the call since we can't see what you see beyond this room. We can communicate with you through your armbands, but that's all we can achieve. Because of this, I am assigning you a leader." He smiled, "Naruto, would you like the honor?"

"Why me?" Naruto asked in shock, hearing a faint echo from a machine in the room, signifying that the way he'd be heard would be through those machines.

Sol chuckled, "You're the kid with multiple Personas, and you managed to keep girly and the cowboy safe. Besides, it'll help build your character into someone with actual balls."

"Why you…" Naruto growled.

"Shake and break a leg, kid." Sol grinned, waving at the mirror.

Ryuuko sighed, "So you get to be our leader. Well then… Where to first?"

The boy pinched the bridge of his nose, taking everything at once to give a proper answer, only to remember a gift. He reached into his pocket and, sure as the Silver World was weird, he found a familiar blue object that Tabitha gave him. It glowed briefly, and when the light died several white lines appeared, with a small little triangle that glowed yellow.

"Is that the gift Tabitha from the Velvet Room granted you, master?" Ramlethal asked, looking at the card with the same lack of emotions as before.

"Velvet Room?" Sol asked.

Ichigo palmed his face, "Oh yeah, we didn't tell you about it… Anyway, Naruto, check that out if you want to. I'll do the explaining here to the old man."

"Sure, I need to see a few things with Gramps Igor." Naruto replied, looking at the card intently to examine it.

On one corned was a square with a name on it, which was the dormitory's name, but with the word basement added. Needless to say, judging by the lines before the arrow leading to a set of smaller lines, it was a map of sorts. Naruto gave a step forward, and the yellow arrow moved too. He turned around and the arrow spun the same amount of degrees he did. Ok, so it was a map with a GPS made of magic.

But he noticed two odd things, there were two rooms before him and on the map that didn't appear on the real world. Two odd doors stood at either side of the room. One was colored blue and looked very fancy, with rich details and an expensive looking painting. The second door was an exact copy, only green.

"Where did this come from?" Ryuuko asked, poking the green door.

"What're you seeing, Ryuuko?" the chairman asked.

"There's a weird green door in the middle of the hall, and I'm sure I didn't see one back with you guys outside this place." The girl replied, and kicked the door, "Tch, it won't budge."

"Wait, there are two doors." Naruto said.

Ramlethal blinked twice, "Master, has your eyesight been injured at some point in which I was not with you? Have I failed yet again to-"

"Don't be so gloomy!" Naruto cried, feeling both sorry for the girl and really nervous, "It's just… I can see two doors here. The green one's on the right, and on the left there's a blue one."

"Blue one?" Ace asked and looked at the other wall, putting his hand on a piece of white wall yet not touching the door, "Is it around here?"

Naruto didn't know what to say or even think, so he moved towards the door he could only see. The card glowed again, and soon Naruto held a blue glowing keycard. And now that he looked at the door, there was a slit below a handle. The card still possessed the yellow arrow, which light blinked, as if telling him to hurry.

"I'll be back." Naruto said as he opened the door and stepped in, into the Velvet Room.

"Ah, once again, welcome." Igor said while Naruto walked to his seat in the train car.

"It seems Mama's gift still works." Tabitha commented with her smile, pulling her braid back, "We'd like to know what services you need of us now."

"I did see a weird green door outside." Naruto commented.

Igor chuckled, "Yes, that door. We thought you could use some help in your journeys into the Silver World. After all, there is no kindness when it comes to Shadows. It is in our best interests that you succeed, Naruto Uzumaki. However," he chuckled again, "to get the best help for you, we had to call in for the best in the business. It will be a harsh ordeal for you to obtain these services, but you may work out a deal with some effort for the sake of your friends as well as your well-being. Why, I am willing to bet you could work something that won't kill you."

"How is that supposed to make me feel relieved?!" Naruto asked, now feeling nervous.

Tabitha sighed, "I didn't want master to get to this point, but if it is for the sake of your quest I am happy with this choice." she smiled, but Naruto could tell it was a forced smile. It wasn't malicious or fake, more like a pained grin, "After all, as I stand here I am bound to assist you release your full power. That is the duty that gives us meaning and life."

"Nevertheless, this is our part." Igor commented before waving a hand, Naruto's Personas being displayed on the coffee table, "If you desire to create new Personas, we can craft them and bring forth power beyond your wildest dreams, but for that you will need to strengthen your bonds with others and gain new Social Links to achieve more types of Persona."

"Sure, no pressure." Naruto said, his voice dripping sarcasm.

Tabitha then handed him a green keycard, "You can start here. I fear that you will go through trouble either way, but you can at least get fully healed up in ways no hospital could hope to achieve."

Naruto grabbed the card and sighed, "What should I be afraid of?"

"A fairy." Tabitha replied without missing a beat, her voice and face the definition of being serious.

"No, she is not kidding." Igor continued, nearly reading Naruto's mind due to seeing the kid's face, "A fairy is what awaits you behind the door to the Fountain Room. There she will heal you. However, she was kicked out of her own world because of her ways. Greed took her, and as you can imagine she shows no way of wanting to redeem herself. That's why I advise to be careful with her."

Naruto pocketed the green keycard, stood up, took a deep breath, and let it out with his next words, "At this point I am not surprised. And the fact that I've gotten used to this is what scares me."

Igor chuckled, "In that you and our previous guests are very much alike."

With a polite goodbye, Naruto left, finding his friends waiting for him, "Master, are you injured? Did you receive any psychological damage?" Ramlethal asked, her voice still lacking all forms of emotion.

He sighed, "A bit of the latter, but I can now open the green door." He pulled out the green keycard and approached the Fountain Room, as Igor called it.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Let's open it." Ryuuko said.

Naruto sighed and did just that. And when he and the others stepped in, the Fountain Room lived to its name. It was a room with a stone floor, and four large pillars surrounding a fountain of beautiful clean water. And on top of the fountain was what Naruto expected to be a horrible monster by what he just heard. He had seen the Shadows already, so he pictured that a fairy in the Silver World could be something really ugly.

Surprisingly, it was a cute girl in a sexy nurse outfit. No, not kidding readers, that was what he was seeing. She had light blue wavy hair beneath a pink cap which was tilted in a way her right eye was covered while her left purple eye stared in merriment at her guests. Her face was round and cute, but the smile said she was not innocent with the playfulness in it. She had a red cross tattoo underneath her one visible eye, and a small petite body. She had little to no curves, and yet still drew some sensuality out of her small chest and small but pert bum with her outfit.

Said outfit consisted of pink boots, white gloves, a white armband with a red cross symbol on it, and… a dress? Naruto didn't know if that was a sleeveless dress or a sleeveless shirt with what little flesh it covered. But following the pink motif, it was a sleeveless piece of cloth that covered her frame with one breast pocket carrying a syringe to complete the nurse theme. She even had a stethoscope hanging around her neck.

But what made Naruto gulp and feel his mouth going dry was the fact that two of the golden buttons on her shirt/dress were opened to show part of her breasts, and no bra. And to make the outfit even more questionable she had a riding crop with four purple heads to lash with. And her last accessory was a white belt with a red cross for a buckle.

Ryuuko blushed at the outfit as much as the blond while Ace hid his face beneath his hat, "What the Hell?!" the girl cried, stepping back in disbelief.

The fairy grinned in a sweet fashion, and her voice came out like a song, a song that sounded too sweet and innocent to be truthful, "HIIIIIIIII~! I'm Trish~! Your one stop healing helper! Need to get a free boost? Demons wounding you all? Come one, come all! I'll give you a wonderful taste of heaven and make all your hurt go away! ...For the measly price of...100,000 YEN!"

Ace nearly fell back, his hat even jumped off his head only to land back on his mop of black curls, "THE FUCK!?" he cried loudly, and one could even hear Ichigo doing a spit-take on the other side.

The fairy, Trish, turned her head away with a huff, "Don't like it? Then hit the road you cheap bums! My spring's only open for paying costumers!"

Sol's voice echoed through the kid's armbands, "What's free about it then, you bloodsucking bitch?" he said in a cold, hateful voice.

She grinned wider, "Well, it's free for me! Not for you!"

Ryuuko grabbed her cutlasses, "I say... we shank the bitch."

Ichigo spoke up, halting her, "Hold up... Satsuki, think you could cough up the money?"

Said girl mused over, and one could hear her humming through the armbands' communicator, "I know the Kiryuiin corporations have a lot of money, but do you really think I could tell my mother I spent it on this?"

Ichigo sighed, "Good point... Ok, let's shank her."

Trish glared at the teens, "Well then... NUTS TO YOU ALL! BLEH!" she even stuck out her tongue to them.

Naruto raised his hand before the fairy could do a thing, anything he or his friends may regret, "Wait!"

"What? Either I see the dough or you cheapskates get shown the door!" she asked, staring at him with her only visible eye, sizing him up.

Ace turned to the blond with an arched brow, "Do you have that much money, leader?"

Trish grinned at such a concept, "I accept cash, not credit..." and when she was done analyzing Naruto with her eyes, she grinned wider, "But I wouldn't mind having a cutie like him in my debt, tee-hee."

Naruto hung down his head, "I have not a single cent. So... Yes, I was thinking we could open a tab."

And in a split second, Ramlethal stood before her master, her hands on his shoulders, "Unacceptable. She is not to be near you, master." She said, her tone still dead but her hands gripping him tightly.

Trish hummed in a sing-song manner, "A tab? Oooh this will be good..." then she glared at the kid's bodyguard, "And be quiet snaggle-tooth, we're ne~go~tia~ting! So Blondie, what's yer offer?"

The boy groaned at his nickname, "Name's Naruto. As for my offer... Well, I can try to fight any kind of Eldritch abomination you may want gone. How's that for a trade? If that's not enough... Name your price."

Trish moved towards him, displaying a pair of near glowing crystal-like butterfly wings, "Hmm...pest control... well... I do have a few vermin who I want gone, so I can take their stuff. I'll make you my own offer. You do that for me, and YOU pay me back with any loot or money you find on those punks."

Ramlethal stared at the fairy with her swords at her sides, "Master won't be used by you on my watch."

Trish glared at the girl, "Quiet snaggle-tooth." She turned to Naruto with a smile, "How's that, cutie? You can also offer yourself up as payment; I wouldn't mind having a handsome, strong, BLOND in my service..."

Ryuuko was the first to snap, a fist aimed at the greedy fairy, "Like Hell he is, you tiny pincushion of a pain in the ass!"

Satsuki spoke through the armbands in a cold, and deadly tone that made the room too icy for the boys and even the grown men, "While I won't use such crude terms, I agree with Ryuuko."

Naruto palmed his face, "It's either this or us dying from blood loss... Trust me, I don't feel at ease." He said loud for his friends and the two men outside to hear, before he turned to the fairy, "But I've heard of you from Gramps Igor and Tabitha-nee-chan. Maybe we can help you return to your world."

Trish snorted, showing her answer before replying to such an offer, "You have no choice~! Either pay me and get the use of my spring or die of blood loss or worse! So...deals a deal? I like this; it's been a long time since I had a good looking guy in my debt... Also, me? I'm fine! Money makes the world go round, who needs the other fairies?"

Naruto rubbed his head through his baseball hat, "I see... Damn, you ARE evil."

"Evil~? Me~? I'm healing you, free of expense of course! You should be more grateful cutie, I'm doing it for your sake! Pain, pain, go away~!" she said, clasping her hands and singing some more.

Ichigo deadpanned, "You're still charging us."

The chairman joined him, "And only filling your pockets out of this."

Trish didn't care, "And I'm helping poor, innocent, charity cases~! It's win-win for all of us! I get paid, you get healed! See? Win-win!"

Naruto sighed, knowing he'd get nowhere with the fairy and that he couldn't have his friends dying, "Fine, I'll take full responsibility for this. What do you want?"

Ramlethal narrowed her eyes, "Master, you can't seriously accept such one-sided terms."

"Like I said~!" Trish sang again, completely blowing off the shark-toothed girl, "Free access to ALL money and loot you find from the monsters you kill. And you killing them as well! I'll accept payment installments as well if you can't kill a monster yet~! Right now some annoying Black Puddings are piling around a bunch of old skeletons, I couldn't care less about the corpses, just what goodies they were carrying~! Jewels, gold, and rare weapons! I'll heal you bozos and you as well cutie, in return you clear them out! This will be the start of a be~au~ti~ful relationship!"

Ryuuko growled, "Or a beautiful scam on your part."

"Scam, business partnership, whatever~!" Trish sang with a sweet smile, "We're both getting something out of it! Now, step up and watch as your pain fades away~!"

Ace sighed, "Then, if you're a nurse… Can we at least get a lollipop?"

Trish glared, "Buy your own! And pretend it's from me~! He can get one for free though~!" The fairy then tossed Naruto one of the mentioned candies, cherry flavor.

"Me?!" he asked in shock, catching the sweet treat.

"Sure~!" she sang with a too sweet to be true smile, "You're the one who made the deal, 'sides I like men with some brains as well as brawn~!"

Naruto groaned, "Why do I feel like you're just making fun of me?"

"I'm not~!" she definitely was in her own way, "Now get going! I'll look forward to seeing you again cutie~! They can just go burn for all I care, but I'll heal them if I must~! Thank me for my kindness!"

The poor Fool Arcana user grunted, but forced himself to speak up, "Ugh... Thanks..."

Sol's voice echoed into the room, "Great, now the bitch has you by the balls, boy."

Ichigo's voice was heard too, "Weird, I can tell there are no Shadows, so what's with the killing intent in the air?"

He hadn't turned to see Satsuki clutching her crossed arms with an angry scowl on her face, and couldn't see Ramlethal's swords vibrating for blood or Ryuuko reaching for her cutlasses.

Naruto sighed, but knew why it had to be done, '_It's either this or my friends dying… Gramps Igor, please, let this be worth not dying._'

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**Now on to the Silver World!**

**As for Trish, she's not made by me, she's a character from Persona 2 and, as you've seen, she's greedier than Nabiki Tendo, but she at least heals you. She's also meaner than Hell, and someone you will want to heal you up if you don't want to eat your own buttocks after the Shadows are done punching your face through your asshole.**

Silver World Residents – by Naruto Uzumaki

**Igor**: The Velvet Room's proprietor. Or is he really the owner of such a place? It seems that he follows orders for a higher purpose. What could he be truly after in the journeys of those he guides? In any case, his nose is really long, I wonder if it can stretch or perhaps act as his weapon.

**Tabitha**: Igor's assistant and a daughter of one of her master's previous assistants and a human. Her smile has cracks, what's the meaning behind forcing a smile for duty? Whatever is the case, I get the feeling that I've been observed since last night. There's this creepy feeling I got when I was at school that is similar to the creepy feeling I got when I first met her, like she were observing me.

**Ramlethal** **Valentine**: A mystery for me through and through. All I can say is that I just want her to be more than my guardian. Is her duty all she has to live for? Am I really so important that someone has to put their life in line for me? I don't know. What I do know is that her outfit… If I found whoever created her, I'm going to punch them in the dick for being so perverted.

**Ragna** (?): He is after something in people, and my own life. That's all I know… Well, that and that he is ridiculously strong. I got to be careful, because if it's not his scythe what comes after me it may be a really powerful Persona. Also… how does he get his hair done that way?

**Trish**: A stingy fairy. If I don't put up with her demands, I fear what could happen to my friends if they really need her help. If only there were some good in her that may be a different story.

BIOS:

**Gamagoori** **Ira** (From Kill LA Kill)

Arcana: Strength - True Strength is fortitude of character, and the ability to not only control emotions, but to rise above them, and triumph over all out lower impulses and desires to use one's power for others.

Description: The Disciplinary Committee President, Gamagoori is considered a symbol of discipline and power that the students follow. Satsuki highly regards him as a true shield that protects everyone.

**Urahara Kisuke** (From Bleach)

Arcana: ?

Description: A retired yakuza who now owns a candy shop, Urahara loves to make fun out of his regular buyers. He also seems to know more about Sol than he seems.

**Ururu** (From Bleach)

Arcana: ?

Description: A gloomy girl that acts as a surrogate daughter to Urahara and also has eyes for finding the perfect weapon for the costumer.

**Mankanshoku Mako** (From Kill LA Kill)

Arcana: The Hanged Man – This card's mysteries are some of the oddest yet most enlightening to offer, and they cannot be learned by searching for lessons in the physical world, you must turn within.

Description: A cheerful airhead, Mako is Ryuuko's friend who can find joy in places no-one could ever see beauty in. Her eccentric nature makes her lonely, but she always has good intentions for her friends.

**Trish** (From Persona series)

Arcana: Temperance - All applications of Temperance share the common theme of moderation and balance, culminating in the creation of a centered and well-rounded being.

Description: Kicked out of the Fairy World by the king of fairies, Oberon, she is only allowed to return to the fairy kingdom when she does enough good deeds, which seems as likely as pigs flying.

**Swordslinger out!**


	4. Chapter 4

I OWN NOTHING

Ok, serious question, what's ugly, can kill you before you even blink, and is more unfair to fight with than any boss in a videogame? If you answered Persona's Reaper, you're wrong. It's me without my bong.

**XXXXXX**

**Persona 4 Arena Nicknames!**

Due to me loving Persona, it's easy to see that I also love the spin-offs. So here are the nicknames this cast would have if they were in the fighting game:

Naruto Uzumaki: The Unstoppable Ramen Fool

Ace Portgas D.: The Fiery Freckled Bruiser

Ichigo Kurosaki: The Deadly Strawberry Prude

Ramlethal Valentine: The Brutally Stoic Cat-girl

Ryuuko Matoi: The Hot-Blooded Unladylike Delinquent

Satsuki Kiryuiin: The Dragon Eyebrows Empress

Ragna: The Raging Black Puppy

Tabitha: The Obsessive Study Freak

Fear the Reaper

"Why are we doing this for some fairy dressed like a stripper nurse?"

Ryuuko's question would've made Naruto deadpan had he not kept a close eye on her cutlasses, "Because we got no other medical insurance, and considering the place we're in I don't want to risk my chances."

Ramlethal turned to her master with a colder than usual stare, "It'd be preferable to take the risks than being asked unreasonable prices by that fairy. Master, Ryuuko and Ichigo's plans of carrying out this shanking procedure of Trish is still an option, a logical, cheaper, and much satisfactory option."

"We do have to face Shadows, which means we can die." Ace defended the blond, "Besides, that long-nosed old man told you of that room, right?"

Naruto let out a sound mixing a badger and a moose, "He did, and he said it'd be for the best. Right now, though, I have my doubts." He shuddered, "It's like a bad chill tries to run up and down my spine."

"That'd be the Silver World affecting you, kid." Sol's voice echoed, "Try to keep your spirits high. Think of happy thoughts, whatever works your way like having the kind of fun I-" a slap echoed through.

The chairman spoke, with a muffled Sol's voice on the background most likely from Ky's hand on the man's mouth, "Do ignore him on the last part. But the higher your self-esteem the greater your Persona will perform."

The Truth Crafters decided to ignore the chairman/scientist comedy act and move forward, not even bothering to listen to their bickering but feeling sorry for Ichigo and Satsuki. They made it far on their own outside of the dormitory and were walking around Inari City. To find what Trish wanted them to kill was a different story. She just said those black puddings, or however she called them, were with corpses.

The team stopped at a small park to ponder where to go next, Ryuuko sat at the bottom of a slide, Ace on a swing, Naruto on top of a horizontal bar, and Ramlethal, as always, floated by her master's side.

"Do you think we should look at a morgue, or a cemetery?" Naruto asked, taking out the lollipop Trish gave him to enjoy the cherry flavor.

Ace sighed, eyes closed and cowboy hat down to cover them, "We're talking about corpses and Shadows here. Don't you think you should throw that thing? For all we know it could be a drug to make you-"

Imagine the group's surprise when Ace was cut off the candy as it spoke to Naruto, "No, cutie~!" that sing-song voice was like a ghost haunting Naruto's soul. "Like my treat~? Anyway~! Let's go to the meat of the matter for our little business~! Head to the train station, there you will find those annoying Shadows… Oh, and one more thing~!"

She paused, forcing him to ask, "Yes?"

Trish giggled, "Is that any way to treat your own lovely and caring nurse~?"

Naruto gritted his teeth, feeling Ryuuko's eyes burn into his soul along Ramlethal's. It was kind of amazing how such an expressionless face just needed the right amount of shadows around the eyes to be truly fearful, and how Ryuuko's teeth seemed far sharper than usual with the right lightning accompanied by the sight of her cutlasses seemed to make her canines look longer. Even Sol and the chairman stopped fighting, and somehow the blond knew that his fuzzy-browed senior was also displeased. Ace had a look of pity for him, and the blond could tell Ichigo was shaking his head slowly.

"Cut to the chase." He said simply and firmly, shaking everyone out of their daydream building hatred towards the fairy, "We're doing our part of the deal as well as our job. The least you can do is to be serious."

Trish pouted, "Fine!" she made no effort to hide her displeasure at not having the blond call her cute things, "See if your treatment will be as kind and caring as before, cutie… But…" he heard a giggle that caused him to cringe, "Trying to put little me in my place? My~! Aren't you manly trying to be so forceful with a girl that cares for you~?"

"Don't put words into my mouth, woman!" he shouted, feeling his hair stand up beneath his baseball cap out of anger.

That only fired her up, "Hehehe~! So you acknowledge I'm a woman~! Good! Hear that, snaggle-tooth~? To him I am a woman~!"

One of Ramlethal's sword was nailed to a wall, crushing the candy into dust deep beneath the hole her blade caused, "Good riddance, I suppose." The cat-like girl said in her usual monotone.

Ryuuko smirked, and her joy was short-lived, "Nice try~!" they heard her voice again, "I left cutie with a little gift along that lollipop~. You just crushed some regular candy, snaggle-tooth~."

Hearing that, Naruto frantically started to search his body with a red face, which in turn caused Ryuuko to blush, "Where'd you put it, you pint-sized pervert?!" she was done with not giving a damn.

Trish sang again, "Oh, worry not, I wouldn't touch my patients unless I have their permission… and an advance payment~!" she giggled, "I just put a little spell on cutie to follow him around~! Aren't I nice, worrying about my best customer and cutest servant~?!"

If Naruto's face could say something, it'd be akin to asking someone to end his misery with a hot lead bullet to his skull. Ace was as shocked but in a more rational way, "What the Hell are you doing then?!" he asked, his hat pulled back to stare at Naruto for any sign of the fairy, "You can't just stalk our leader like some celebrity's psychotic fan! A guy needs his privacy when he does the most important things in his life."

"Oh, that…" for the first time they heard what sounded like disappointment on the fairy's voice, "Blame that old man Igor that I can't go farther than this… Ugh… That guy's really good when it comes to making a contract. So, no, I can't see cutie or even know what he's doing right now. And I can't follow him out of this world… Listen, just head to the station, finding those Shadows should be easy from there."

Naruto had small tears in his eyes, '_Gramps Igor, you're awesome, don't let anyone say otherwise…_' Even Ryuuko voiced his thoughts, "If I ever see that guy, I'll be sure to buy him a fruit basket." She then looked forward, "Now, it was the train station, right? That's not too far away from here."

"Are there any Shadows around here?" Naruto asked Ramlethal who replied with a negative, so he grinned at Ryuuko, "Lead the way then."

The group passed through the station, listening to Ryuuko's advice against shadows: "They walk around patterns or something. That's what Eyebrows says: They'll only attack if you're close enough for them to notice you, so watch how they move and sneak in for a kill or run for it away from them." She said trying to use her best imitation of Satsuki, which did amaze the group with how similar she looked like the student council president when putting on a stoic face.

The Fool Arcana user also paid close attention to Ramlethal's words considering the cat-like girl lived among the Shadows waiting for his arrival: "There isn't much energy in this vicinity for the Shadows to feed from. Master, it'd be wise if we avoided that alley, the Shadows would immediately notice our energy and emotions there." And out of curiosity, Naruto reached into the alley with a foot, and the instant he saw darkness looming around he pulled it back, glad that no further movement was seen.

And Ace had some good advices: "That place has some of the best pizza in town. With the money we have left we could eat like kings…" Ok, maybe good advices for boys their age.

Finally the group arrived at a large street surrounded by shops and other establishments like small restaurants. On one side was a large subway entrance to the train station. The Persona users and the feline girl jumped/floated into the darkness. Once there, Naruto was amazed. It looked like a livelier place than the train station he arrived at on his first day.

But there was one issue: a large blob blocked their way. It slid back and forth with its tiny arms grasping at the air and its cartoonish beady eyes staring at nothing, and Ryuuko grinned at the sight, "Guess it's time for you to start fighting." She said, pulling out her Truth Key before pressing the tip on his wrist, surprising her friends when the tip sunk in, "You can fight all you want, but Shadows have their strengths and weaknesses. And nothing works better than a Persona to take them down. All you have to do is to 'open' yourselves, if that makes sense."

Naruto nodded, though his mind was going everywhere and nowhere with nervousness. "Should we fight this one then?"

Ryuuko nodded, "It'd give you some experience, but-"

He swallowed a lump in his throat, nodded at Ryuuko, and advanced forward like an idiot, "Then, charge!"

The blob turned and raced at Naruto who held his broadsword up, with Ryuuko trying to reach him miserably, "Don't run off! Ace, follow him!" The freckled brawler snapped himself out of his surprise and did as told. The two delinquents followed their blond leader close behind, with Ramlethal already by his side.

Both charging enemies raised their arms, and Naruto was faster in bringing his down, with his broadsword giving him a longer reach he was able to strike first. What happened next surprised him to say the least and stopped Ace in his tracks. The blob burst into pieces, smaller blobs flying everywhere and landing on the ground around Naruto.

"Stay there!" he told his friends and jumped back, effectively locking the shadows between himself and Ramlethal on one side, and Ryuuko and Ace on the other. The Truth Crafters raised their weapons, ready for their first fight as a somewhat organized team. The blobs shuddered, pulsed, and grew. The bigger they got, the more defined they got. Limbs grew, arms and legs in some parts, and even colors showed themselves.

In front of the unlikely team were five clay monsters that reminded Naruto of Deidara, only that the barely humanoid clay blobs had a single mouth on their chest, with no neck or skull, and a blank mask over it.

"Grim Artists." Ramlethal said as she floated as close as possible to her master, "Prideful and arrogant Shadows capable of great explosive destruction. Their strongest and only true form, Deidara, may be gone, yet they still remain to fight and destroy with his way of calling mediocre fireworks art." Naruto knew that said Shadow was more than likely rolling in his metaphorical grave. "Piercing attacks like arrows and bullets don't work on them as well as bashing or slashing attacks, master. They also are weak to basically any magical attack."

Ryuuko shouted over, "Ok, let me show you how it's done!" she said, moving up her left wrist and shoving her Truth Key into it, "Let's go, Rajyaki!" she cried and, with a twist of the key, her Persona appeared.

Just like Naruto's Persona, blue flames erupted around Ryuuko, making the Shadows shudder at the presence of a powerful being. The figure that appeared was seriously lacking any and all intimidation. It was a little girl, with the word 'little' underlined several times. She had black feathery hair that reached her thighs, and wore only a red apron which should make her happy that her hair covered her back. But what made obvious that the girl was not normal, aside from her ridiculous choice of clothing, was the axe in her right hand the size of her body she carried with ease, her red skin, and the black bone horns sticking out of her forehead. She had a large, fanged grin and hefted the axe on her shoulder with a lot of confidence, even if she barely reached Ryuuko's waist.

The girl, Rajyaki, flew at the nearest clay monster and slashed it in half with her large axe, splitting it in two. Then she and Ryuuko shared a hot-blooded smirk as the red streaked girl slammed her Truth Key yet again on her wrist. Both Persona and user roared, and a large cloud of smoke turned the little Rajyaki into… an adult. Naruto felt his face go redder than the female demon's skin when seeing her body that matched and rivaled that of Ryuuko and Satsuki's still covered only by that red apron. And now she had a spiked club that looked far heavier than her axe, and also harder to hit things with. Rajyaki did just that, she swung her club with an immense force that made the nearest Grim Artist fly off into the sky like a bird.

But Ryuuko and her Persona weren't done, "Game's over! Rajyaki, don't hold back!" the red demon smirked, nodded, and summoned a large fireball the size of her body, which she slammed her club into like it were a baseball, and shot it at the flying Shadow, incinerating it.

Not wanting to be outdone after seeing such a display, the two boys pulled out their keys, "Persona!" Naruto cried with his Truth Key on his chest.

Ace put his key on his right fist, shouting a loud, "Let's go, Negi!"

Asura appeared again, rushing at the Shadows with a strange Persona. It was a little kid clad in a black shirt, pants, shoes, and a large white cloak. The boy had reddish hair done in a small ponytail, a kind face, and small spectacles on the tip of his nose. But what stood out, aside from the fact the kid had to be at least ten years old, was the large wooden staff he carried on one hand, and the magical aura surrounding him when he flew on said wooden staff like a witch on a broom. The little boy quickly caught up with Asura and both Negi and the red man threw their right limbs forward. From the six-armed man's red ethereal projectiles shot forward, and the child's opened palm let loose a powerful gale of wind that knocked the monster before him against a wall.

The boys were amazed at seeing the little kid, Negi's power. So much they almost didn't notice the last Shadow coming closer to them until two large swords the size of their emotionless owner's body sliced it in half. They turned around to see Ramlethal floating closer to her master, eyes scanning the area for anyone who dared to harm him or the members of his party.

XXXXXX

At the Velvet Room one albino girl giggled to herself, pulling her braid back, "Interesting… I've heard of and even seen these Personas at work, but I never thought they'd be so fascinating. Negi Springfield, a powerful young mage prodigy that at the age of ten managed to woo many girls far older than him. If my assumptions are correct, his role as the Magician Arcana would have him be is that of support for Ace's prowess in martial arts."

Igor nodded with his calm grin, "Indeed, Tabitha. Negi is powerful in both long and close range. He is also quite adept at supporting others. Meanwhile, Ace is powerful already on his own, but having someone to cheer him on watching over him doesn't hurt either. And he is fond of well-meaning people, which Negi is."

Tabitha tapped her chin with her index finger, "Then there's Rajyaki, Lord Enma's daughter. As the daughter of the god of the Underworld she is quite powerful, and her demon powers are quite amazing. But to change forms like that, even if it's because of her user's power, seems unlikely. Then again, Ryuuko seems more than a good match for her. Both are hot-blooded girls that don't give up, though Rajyaki is far more naïve and, albeit slightly, ladylike."

"Rajyaki's power comes from a special item she carries." Igor mentioned, "It's a special hammer of legend. One hit and she'll change from a kid to an adult. But if Ryuuko's hot blood boils hotter than usual, then we shall see Rajyaki's full power on display."

Tabitha giggled, "I can't wait to see more of them in combat."

XXXXXX

Once the battle was over, and the Shadows vanished, the three Persona users caught their breath, "That's weird…" Ace panted just once, "Feels like I ran a whole street back there."

Ryuuko nodded, "Summoning a Persona is exhausting. Make sure you don't abuse their power by fighting on your own." She then turned to the blonde Uzumaki with a stern stare similar to Satsuki's, "And what were you thinking back there, attacking Shadows like that?"

"I was… nervous, sorry." Naruto admitted with his eyes down, "I'm sorry, I really am, but I had no other idea. And we were supposed to fight Shadows, weren't we?"

Satsuki's voice echoed, "Indeed, but let this be a lesson to you, Naruto. Next time you see an enemy, be more thoughtful."

Naruto not only nodded in understanding, he also bowed to Ryuuko, "Then I'll make it up to you, I promise." He looked up at his comrades, "I'm not sure what I'm even doing, but if you guys put that much trust in me, I want to make this work no matter what."

Ichigo sighed, "A simple sorry would have worked… Ok, sure, I'd still chew your ass. Just try to keep this mistake in mind so you don't repeat it, all right?"

"Fine I can let this slide, for now…" Ryuuko said softer than before, a second later she flicked the blond youth's nose, "I still want to have some words with you. If you risk your life like that…" she sighed, "Don't make me think about it, ok?"

Naruto could hear and even feel the Persona users' concern, making him feel more at ease and oddly warm inside despite the slight sting on his nose. "Don't worry, I learn fast when it comes to messing up." He then cocked his head to the side, "Now I can see that this is why you had us buy weapons…"

Ryuuko stared at him blankly, "What else would we have them for?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly, "You have a point."

Ryuuko shook her head, "We have to stay close, not lose time." And then she turned icy eyes similar to the student council president at him to an odd sight, "What're you doing?"

The Magician Arcana user was crouched before the place where the Shadows stood before, with puzzled eyes, pulling up a five hundred yen coin, "Are you guys seeing the same as I?" Ace asked, picking up two more coins of the same amount of money, "Are these real?" he gave them an examining eye before biting on one, widening his eyes in surprise, "Yes! Yes, they are! What in blazes…?" he scratched his head through his hat.

Ramlethal brought them out of their thoughts, "Shadows function by a unique principle similar to alchemy's: to give and take. There needs to be an equal exchange for a Shadow's existence and their demise. Upon victory, Shadows take a form fitting for the one who defeats them to grant them a reward. Which in turn-"

"Smaller words, please!" Ichigo's voice groaned through their armbands, "Geesh, you lost me too. What're you talking about? How do Shadows turn into money?"

Ramlethal replied without missing a beat, "Data's insufficient on the true details behind such phenomenon. Only the simplest answers to carry my mission were given to me so long as they served to keep my master safe, nothing else. Anything else may as well not exist to me."

Satsuki closed her eyes, "This proves useful. Defeating Shadows means we have an income to purchase weapons and… Trish's services…" the last words carried venom at the mental image of the greedy fairy nurse. "But it also gives us insight on you, Valentine."

"Yeah…" Naruto started, turning to his guardian with a smile, "It's good to see you know about Shadows, Ram-chan. That means that with your help we can know their weaknesses and hit them twice as hard!" he cheered with his bright smile and a warm aura. "Whether you know something or not, you're still helping us."

Ramlethal, however, looked away, "My apologies for letting you believe such a fallacy, master." She said with her head bowed deeply, confusing the blond Persona user, "I was programmed to learn from battle. I only possessed that data on those Grim Artists from past experiences in lethal combat with them. Any mistake on my part was met with the Shadows experiencing brutal fatalities to make up for my failures."

She stood straight up when feeling her master's hand on her shoulder, not letting go a she stared at the shark-toothed girl, "There is no way you have to apologize, ok? You knew something that helped us. For that I'm thankful." He still had that bright and warm smile of his as he turned to face the red-streaked girl, "And we finally got to use our Personas. Did we do well enough?"

Ryuuko smiled, "Yeah, you did. Just don't let it go to your head."

Ichigo spoke up through the communicator, "Indeed. You wouldn't want to end up boasting like Ryuuko."

Before the feathery haired girl and the orange haired boy could argue again, one Satsuki Kiryuiin spoke up her concerns, "I fear you didn't grasp my words, Uzumaki." The heavy-browed girl said solemnly, "Valentine, your information is highly useful, yet I fear that whatever original data you were given wasn't meant to keep Uzumaki fully safe, just functional." A pause took place for a few seconds as Ramlethal's eyes opened ever so slightly, "If you were truly made to keep him safe, you should know all about our enemies, not random bits of information."

Ryuuko groaned, "Damn it… you know she's right…" the raven haired girl turned to the dark skinned lass, "Don't you dare say you have insufficient info or whatever. You're way more suspicious than before now." And then she turned to the blond, "Are you going to keep defending her? Just know that if you trust her and we're right, you could be the first to bite the dust."

Naruto sighed, arms crossed, "Anyone who'd protect another, no matter the reason, deserves a chance." He then looked at the others and also Ramlethal, "What worries me is how Ram-chan sees her own life…" he scratched the back of his head, "Saying one's nothing but a tool, that life has no meaning but to do one thing… I just can't stand such a thing. That's why I want to know who made Ramlethal to be this way, Ryu-chan."

"Ryu-chan?" the feather-haired girl asked with a raised brow.

Naruto nodded, "I just felt like calling you that. I hope you don't mind."

She let out a long, tired sigh, "I don't, so long as you know what you're doing and you can keep your back safe." She stared longer at the blonde girl, "If she ever tries to harm you, I'll be the first one to stop her. You can count on that."

Ramlethal bowed, "I'd ask for nothing else, for master's safety."

Ace groaned, "Damn, I see what you were saying before about how she sees her life, Naruto…" he then looked around, "Let's keep moving. All this sappy talk is not going to keep the Shadows away from us."

"But a moment ago…" Naruto started, "She did fight along us rather than try to backstab us, Ryu-chan."

Ryuuko nodded, "The fact I don't really trust her doesn't mean I won't be thankful for that, but I need more than her doing her 'duty' to trust her."

"I have to side with her, leader." Ace said, hand tilting down his hat and his face a serious one, "The more we ask of Ramlethal, the less we know about her. I don't feel at ease with her, and I do want to trust your judgment, but I also know not to trust a stranger… no matter if they're a cute girl."

"We still don't know anything against her, either." Naruto said strongly, standing up to them with the same fire in his eyes from when he stood up for them in classes.

Ace's eyes softened, "I don't want to see you get hurt, man." He then smiled, "I feel the same about all the friends I have, it feels like getting kicked when you're down if I ever see them in pain and can't help them."

"Speaking of feeling like your dick's getting kicked." Sol's voice rang, "You better get those Shadows before that pest tries to charge you for breathing."

Naruto turned to the hot-blooded girl, "We can talk of this later, but for now I want to trust you, all of you."

Ramlethal nodded, "Got it. If you want to trust someone, then I shall not oppose you, master." She said in her ever monotone voice, but the others could tell she didn't say it lightly.

Ryuuko could tell he meant every word. He was either a real sweetheart or a real idiot. Whatever the case, she also meant what she said about not forgiving the cat girl should the blond be harmed, "Fine, let me lead the way now. We have to be close if what that stingy bitch said about corpses is true."

"You mean someone actually died there?" Ace asked, pulling up his hat to stare better at the station, "I know she said corpses, but I was thinking some monster's dead carcass… How come I don't know anything about this?"

"It's a rumor." Ichigo's voice replied, easing everyone's worries by a small notch, "Urahara told me this place was haunted, that some nutjob from a pizzeria ran around kidnapping kids and got them dumped here. Supposedly he's very thin, wears a suit, is ridiculously tall and has no face. There's also some ghost prancing around a bunny suit from a theme park in a place filled with mist and monsters that represent the darkest part of someone's mind."

Ace deadpanned, "Are you pulling my leg?"

Ichigo didn't miss a bit, "Of course, I am. Had there been a murder then it'd be all over the news and this place would be closed. And it was told to me by Urahara; anything involving him has to be a lie."

Sol chuckled, "Ah yes. Man, I remember when I used to scare Boy Scout to death with those silly stories."

"I think we have more important matters to press on." The now embarrassed chairman said with a groan.

"I'll tell you the story later." Sol said.

Ace sighed, "They sure must be bored to talk this much with us." He then turned to Ryuuko, "You were saying?"

Ryuuko narrowed her eyes, "There's a rumor of this place that is true." She walked forward with a scowl, "There was an… incident here. About fifteen years ago, back when we were in diapers, someone disappeared here and was never seen again. I mean it: the guy just vanished into thin air." She then sighed, "Sorry for having to bring that up. Just don't ask anything further about it, ok? No-one really knows what happened."

"Ryuuko…" it was Satsuki's voice, speaking firmly, "It's fine, they have the right to know." The red-streaked girl bit her lower lip and looked down, as if disappointed in herself when Satsuki continued, "The man that disappeared here was my father Soichirou. One day he was seen there and he didn't leave a trace behind."

There was an uncomfortable silence following her words, broken by Ace, "This sounds very familiar." He tilted his hat down but his tone said enough for one man.

Sol made his voice heard, "Indeed. The Silver World and many other things are unknown to us, but it's very likely that more than one they're related. That is why we have you here, to search for answers. If you want to resent us for that, be my guest."

Ace snorted, "Are you kidding?" he has his smile back in place, "Hearing all this just makes me want to beat all those Shadows up even more! If they're the reason people are missing, then count me in to fight back! And we all know who has to be behind this! It has to be Shadows like that Deidara. Ramlethal said he was one of a group. He can't be the only one behind this stuff."

"We know. But you're wrong on one thing." The chairman's voice killed Ace's smile, "We did our research, and you are right on those strong Shadows being one of the reasons behind this world messing with ours, but there is one man that disappeared here and worked behind our backs."

Satsuki spoke next, "My father used to work with him. That's how the chairman and I met, they were researching the Silver World and its powers, but one member of their team discovered something and the rest is a blank page. His identity was a lie, and everything we thought we knew turned out to be his doing. He is another reason why we investigate this world, to stop him."

Ace cringed, "That's messed up…" he sighed, "I'm sorry for getting so excited."

"Don't be, Portgas." Satsuki's voice showed once again why she was president of the student council: it came out so serene and soothing that the freckled bruiser was pulled out of his temporary depression, "The fact you stand here fighting for more than just yourself is something I greatly appreciate. I cannot express into words how thankful I am to have you and Uzumaki aiding us in this quest."

The brawler chuckled, pulling down his hat, "Geesh, you're gonna make me blush. I'm just some guy swinging my fists, if I do that for a friend then I'm more than happy."

Ichigo interrupted the moment, "Hold your horses, cowboy. I think you found what that pincushion fairy wanted. There's a strange killing intent in the air."

Satsuki gasped, "Kurosaki's right! It's coming your way, and fast!"

Ramlethal's eyes widened, "Master!" she shouted and jumped at his side with her body covering his, and her swords floating in front of Ryuuko and Ace.

Debris flew in the air and Naruto groaned as he rammed his Truth Key on his chest and summoned, without thinking, Missile. The cheerful Pomeranian barked happily as he watched the large chunks of a wall fly his way. The little dog barked again, wagged his tail, and then the large chunks of concrete about to smash his user and the cat-like girl stopped midair… and were instantly replaced with, to the red clad boy's shock, pebbles. The larger chunks landed away from the blond, while the pebbles bounced of Ramlethal's back without harming her. Ryuuko and Ace for their part watched the large pieces of concrete that Missile didn't get be blocked by the large swords that the blonde girl summoned for them.

Naruto panted with a large grin, "Good job, Missile!"

Missile barked, "_**Mister Naruto! Next time your teammates are in trouble, summon me! I will make sure no harm comes their way… But I can only do that once at a time. It's hard to use my Ghost Tricks on more than one thing at once.**_" His user nodded and the little dog disappeared.

Ace whistled, "I can't believe it, I'm alive…" he stepped back, away from the humongous flying sword that returned to its owner, "Well, you got my vote of confidence now, Ram."

Ryuuko nodded, not looking at the blondes with her flustered cheeks, "I guess that clears some questions about her, then. That and I also can't be a bitch to someone who saves my skin."

Naruto grinned, "Thanks." He then looked at the girl who proclaimed to be his servant. "You still shouldn't risk your life like that for mine or others… are you listening to me?"

She was staring ahead of him, ignoring the blond youth, "Master, the enemy's approaching."

He inwardly groaned, '_Oh come on, just this one time did I want her to pay me attention, she-_'

His thoughts stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of someone flying through the hole on the wall and landing face down before them. Someone Ace recognized all too angrily, "You!" he shouted and raced at the fallen figure, lifting him by his shoulders to come face to face with the dizzy youth.

Naruto stepped back and grabbed his sword while Ramlethal readied hers and her claws, Ryuuko for her part needed a moment to recognize the person before her since she only heard descriptions, "This is Ragna?" the red-streaked girl asked with her cutlasses out, "I… kind of expected him to be more muscular… and intimidating." She sounded disappointed.

Ace growled at the albino, "You got a lot of nerve coming here after what you tried to do to Luffy." He shook the white-haired youth.

Ragna finally reacted once the birdies before his eyes that circled his head flew away and he came face to face with the freckled nitwit that followed him in search for the brat he had to kidnap. Not only that, but the idiot was accompanied by the blonde cat psycho and some cosplay nut in a far too small miniskirt besides that triple damned whoreson, puppy defiling, blond son of a rat that he had to kill and would rename 'Head on a pike'. And note that these are Ragna's thoughts, not the writer's.

"Hands… off…" the albino groaned with his hands attempting and failing to loosen Ace's deceivingly powerful grip.

"You got a lot to answer." Ace said, lifting Ragna a couple of feet off the ground, "And I saw what you tried to do. Don't think for a second that you'll hurt Luffy."

"Listen, you idiot…" Ragna groaned in his weakened state, "Either you let me go or we both die here."

Ace had but a fraction of a second to throw himself and fall backwards along Ragna when a large bony hand came out of the hole the albino made in the wall. The large hand was about the size of a man's body, and was basically dark shadowy skin on bones with strange white paint that made it look like one of those Halloween skeleton costumes. It had five fingers, all quite long and capable of grasping, and the digits tried to get a hold of the two boys. It tried, and failed.

"Oh no you don't!" Ryuuko cried as she spun around, sent her right foot towards the hand's wrist to move it aside, and swung her swords at the exposed wrist. She expected blood to come out, but her blades just made a large gash on flesh with no muscle tissue beneath or even an ounce of blood.

The large limb shuddered in pain and retrieved itself, "You saw that, right?!" Ace asked as he forced himself to sit up with the weakened scythe user on top of him, "And get off." He said, still showing his dislike of anyone who'd dare hurt his little brother.

"Would if I could, asshole." Ragna grumbled.

Ryuuko kept her eyes on the hole in case anything came out, and replied, "Listen, Sunshine, you can either try to be a little friendlier with us, or we can finish what whatever that hand was started."

The albino growled at her, "Listen, you little-" he shut up when he saw Naruto in front of him, with Ramlethal close behind readying her swords. "What do you want?" he didn't hide his disgust at the sight of the blond.

Naruto sighed, leaned down, and offered him a hand, "You're stuck with us, the least we can do is work together." He pulled Ragna up to his feet and stared at the taller white haired teen, "I know you want to kill me, and I have no idea why. But right now I bet you don't want to die to whatever you fought."

Ragna was shocked, to say the least, his expression was the same one would have should they been startled by a jump-scare, "What?! Are you pulling my leg?! You're…" he gritted his teeth, and Naruto watched his red eye flash briefly. Ramlethal quickly put her sword at Ragna's neck, getting a surprised gasp from him.

"The only reason you're living right now is because my master has chosen not to fight you." She looked at Naruto with her ever emotionless face, "This is a choice I completely disagree with, but I will make sure you're in no position to threaten him… or his comrades."

Naruto put his hand on the girl's shoulder and spoke seriously, "Don't… If he hates me this much, there must be a reason. I don't want to fight him right now, not with some monstrous Shadow nearby."

Ragna glared at the quartet before him, and spat on the ground, "Fine… I guess I can work with you."

"Wait, was it that easy?!" Naruto asked in shock.

Ragna grinned wickedly, "Don't get me wrong. Right now there's a big asshole I want to kill more than you. When this is over, you and I will settle things."

"Why?" the blond asked straight to the point.

Ragna stood up on wobbly legs and glared at him, "You think you're being the hero, fighting Shadows and keeping these guys safe, but you're wrong." He stated dully, "I've been looking in this world for to get rid of my own problems. You're another obstacle in the way. Sadly, I can't let you die this way, not to these freaks. There are rules to this game."

Before anyone could ask what Ragna meant when he mentioned a game, the wall came crashing down, and through the chunks of concrete that remained a large Shadow walked towards our heroes. A large train cart was crushed like someone stepped on it, or rather crushed by what stood on top and stared at the kids with a mad grin and a hanging tongue.

The figure was rather terrifying to look at. It consisted was an enormous torso far bigger than a normal house, crushing the tunnel's walls as it crawled towards them. Its skin was pitch black and painted white with marks that resembled a skeleton's set of bones. It had no legs, it just dragged the end of its spinal cord. Large, rusty and worn out blades pierced its chest where the heart should be. The head was human, apparently. It was that of a young man with slicked back white hair, golden eyes, his tongue hanging out, and a skull painted on his face. His white square teeth were shown in a big, insane grin.

"**Today's a day to rejoice as I, Hidan, have found a good sacrifice for he who gave me purpose.**" He raised his hands… all four of them.

He had four arms, two on each side of his body. The lower right hand carried a strangle medallion with the chain wrapped around the knuckles and a triangle symbol of some odd dark deity hanging from it. The lower left hand – that sported a cut from Ryuuko's blades - was held in a strange position as if the Shadow were a monk praying. But the two upper arms were dragging scythes, large scythes with chains at the pummel attached to Hidan's exposed guts, and three blades on the rods. Naruto for his part felt sick at the sight of the other end of the chains digging into the torso.

Ramlethal's eyes flashed briefly, "Hidan, a Shadow of the Dark Dawn. There is… data on him." she stepped back, her eyes wide at the oddity that was having knowledge on such a being, "A Shadow of the Inverted Hierophant Arcana. However, there's a warning about not being cut by his sides. Further data is inaccessible." Easy comes, easy goes.

Hidan turned to her, grinning widely, "**Well, if it isn't the runt of the pack? Here to protect someone again? Or are you finally working?**"

When those questions were made Hidan's scythes flew at the group. Ragna growled and reached for his back, pulling out a large slab of metal similar to a cleaver. The odd sword-like object extended itself, twirled, and soon Ragna's red jagged scythe was out to lash at Hidan's. Sparks flew and Ace took that as his cue to run at the large monster, jump over the blades, and slam his right fist on the Shadow's right side. Hidan's eyes widened when the powerful punch let out a smack akin to the sound of a shotgun the moment the knuckles made contact with his skin.

Ramlethal, Ryuuko and Naruto also didn't waste any time and rushed forward. Ramlethal jumped at the other scythe wielding arm and kicked it, leaving an opening for Ryuuko. The hot-blooded girl grinned as she ran to the exposed arm, dragging the tip of her cutlasses on the ground with sparks flying on the cuts she made on the floor before she jumped up and spun around to lash at it and make two deep cuts on the wrist. Naruto rushed in and took out his Truth Key, ramming it into his chest yet again.

"_**About time I got to play~!**_" Morrigan's voice purred. She raised her right hand, holding that wrist with her left, and from her palm a bright green flame shot out, taking the form of a bat which flapped its wings to speed its flight at the large Shadow. It smashed Hidan on the chest and send him coiling back.

It looked like they had harmed him… so why was Hidan still grinning, "**Come on, hit me more!**" he cackled and slammed his lower hands on the ground, shaking it and nearly making the heroes and their reluctant ally fall, "**Put on a show for the gods watching over us! Your lives shall please mine, after all! Regret your sins once your life belongs to him!**"

"Damn it!" Ragna growled, "Bastard doesn't even flinch! I know, I've been wailing on him for the last two hours…"

Hidan seemed to ignore him, "**Tell me, child, what do you believe you will achieve fighting sorely for a cause you have yet to find? If you dare go against me, my god shall curse you to death. Attack me all you want, it shall be useless, for I have been blessed by a true deity! I was born by his will, while you all were lucky to be born!**" he then stared at Ramlethal, "**Even failures like you.**"

"What?" Ramlethal asked, eyes wide, "I'm a… failure?" she stared intently at the Shadow, "How?"

"**Failures like you need no answers.**" Hidan answered simply, "**They must be erased!**" He lifted his scythes and brought them down on Ramlethal who stared at him briefly before willing her blades to move up, until, "**Your mission never existed! That's why it's best to disregard someone without worth or purpose!**"

Ramlethal's eyes widened and she froze, making even Ryuuko's heart miss a beat, "Hey, watch out!" she cried to the girl, "Move!"

But Ramlethal remained where she was, staring at the scythes with an empty gaze as millions of thoughts crossed her mind: was she worthless? Were the words Hidan said truth? Was that the reason her mind was unable to use important and vital data? Had she been born as a failure? If so, then why was she protecting Naruto for? Was that what made her a failure, to want to protect her master? Was everything she believed before nothing but a mistake?

She snapped herself out of those thoughts when something hot, warm and liquid splashed on her cheek. It was blood, Ryuuko's, "W…" she couldn't make a sound, or even gasp, even less make a coherent question. Ryuuko's back was turned to the blonde girl, her cutlasses were up and crossed over her head to push away the scythes, but one of the blades got her shoulder, badly.

"Ryuuko!" Ace gasped and raced at her.

"Ryu-chan!" Naruto shouted and readied his Truth Key.

"Stupid girl…" Ragna grunted, but the expression on his face said that his anger wasn't aimed at her.

Hidan pulled back his scythe and grinned wider, letting his tongue hang out, "**You protect a failure like her?**"

Ryuuko was fed up, "Shut your mouth, you freak!" she grabbed her injured shoulder with one hand, but forced her cutlass at the Shadow, "Going over and over saying someone's a failure… Who do you think you are?!" she was furious, that much was obvious, and her anger even stopped the boys from reaching her, "I know she can be dangerous, but the way you talk to her makes me want to rip out that stupid grin off your face!"

"Why?" Ramlethal finally asked.

Ryuuko grinned at her, surprising the dark skinned lass, "I asked that myself… Then asked: why not?" she chuckled, letting out a pained groan in her laugh, "I may not know a thing about you, and I will keep my word about making sure you don't harm our softy of a leader... but I still have a heart, damn it. I… don't want to lose… anyone… not again…"

She smiled and staggered. Naruto quickly caught her and smiled, "I think I get what you're saying Ryuuko." He helped her stand up straight and glared at Hidan, "You really shouldn't mess with my friends…"

Hidan grinned and pulled the scythe he had cut Ryuuko with to his mouth, "**Oh, I can do worse…**" he then licked the blade, slurping Ryuuko's blood from the tip.

Ragna himself was disgusted by the sight, "Son of a bitch…" He was about to charge at the monster, but watched wide-eyed like the others how Hidan punched his own gut with his smile still in place.

Gasping for breath, Ryuuko fell to her knees, holding her stomach. Her eyes were wide mostly from pain than the shock of being hurt out of nowhere. Hidan grinned and this time punched his face. The boys and Ramlethal watched uselessly in horror how the red-streaked girl's sported a bruise before she was sent flying from some invisible punch.

"What did you do?!" Naruto roared as he rushed to the girl's side and helped her up.

Hidan cackled, "**There's only one deity I followed, and he has blessed me with the power to curse those that don't deserve him.**"

Ramlethal's eyes widened, "Master, this is what the warning about his scythes was about. He 'cursed' Ryuuko after striking her."

The large Shadow leaned down to stare at the small group with a grin, "**Come on and hit me! See how good it does once your friend dies at your hands!**" he raised all four of his hands, "**Sacrifice her life to my god by using my body as the means to send her off, or die like useless dogs!**"

Naruto groaned and reached for his armband, "We could really use some help here!" he screamed to it… only to receive static.

Ragna growled to himself, "Damn it… I can't reach her…" he said, most likely referring to whoever pulled him out of the last mess he was in.

Ace also helped Ryuuko up with one of her arms around his neck, "He's not going to let us escape in any way, and even if we fight Ryuuko…"

Ryuuko gritted her teeth, "Don't let me hold you back!" she shouted, only for Hidan to slam his fist into his gut, trying to silence her. The girl coughed blood, worrying her fellow Truth Crafters who tried to keep her from falling. Her hands remained on their shoulders to keep herself up, "I told you… Don't worry about me… Kill this son of a bitch, otherwise you…"

"**Choose now!**" Hidan cackled, swinging his scythes at the group.

Naruto watched the blades sail through the air at him. Ramlethal was frozen, unable to determine any logical course of action to protect her master and friends and make sure the threat didn't harm them. Ragna held up his scythe to prepare himself for the incoming impact. Ace for his part stood with him to support Ryuuko. Ryuuko growled and grabbed her Truth Key.

The blond could only stare at his own key, resting in unsteady fingers that couldn't completely grasp the small object, as if too afraid to either grip it or hold it tighter. It was the same all over again, he was… No…

He…

He wasn't powerless any longer.

"Let's do it!" he said, surprising his close teammates.

"Do you have an idea?" Ace asked.

Naruto shook his head, "No, but it's the only thing I have…"

Ryuuko grinned, "Then I'm betting on you."

They looked at each other and nodded, pulling out their Truth Keys.

"PER." Naruto stepped forward with Ryuuko resting between him and Ace for support.

"SO." Ace shouted as he used his Truth Key.

"NA!" the beaten up Ryuuko shouted with her eyes still burning with passion.

A cheerful dog, a mage boy, and a small demon girl were certainly the least intimidating creatures the Shadow expected to see, and so it laughed, "**Pick your own god and die for mine!**"

Scythes flew at the three Personas. The users' eyes flashed for an instance, and Hidan watched the three figures glow with power that erupted from the users. Missile flew at the scythes and slammed his head into them. Hidan's eyes widened when he couldn't budge either weapon from the spot they had been frozen midair. Negi raised his staff and his whole body glowed with Ace's power, with powerful gusts of wind surrounding the boy as he aimed a fist at the monster with powerful light glowing around it. Rajyaki's body grew once again, not into the bodacious adult form she used, but into a giantess of about five foot tall covered in muscle that strained the apron. It was the image of a fully grown demon, and she was riding on a cloud of smoke and fire with her fists coated in flames.

And then, the three users ran forward. "What're you doing?!" Ragna asked in shock at seeing the two boys racing at the large Shadow with Ryuuko keeping up despite the pain she had been put through.

They let go of each other and raced to their respective Personas. Negi himself looked more than surprised when his user grabbed him by his collar, forced the kid to sit on one of his shoulders, and raced at the shadow while carrying the kid single-armed. Missile landed next to its master, who raised his blade as they also jumped at the Shadow. Ryuuko for her part jumped up, and seeing her Rajyaki lowered a massive hand in which the red-streaked girl's foot landed.

Being one and the same, Personas and users knew what to do: Naruto clashed his broadsword against one of the scythes and Missile jumped at Hidan's chest, ramming right into his solar plexus and paralyzing the monster. Ryuuko groaned at the pain but dealt with it easily as the large and muscular Rajyaki threw the schoolgirl like a pitcher would launch a baseball right at the monster's face. Negi slammed his hands on Ace, covering the freckled fighter in pure magical light.

Ragna watched, and bit back a groan, "This better work!" he cursed and raced after the other teens, his scythe pulled back for a single wide swing meant to cut anything in its path.

Ramlethal didn't need to be given options, for she still had made her choice, "Master, is this a wise plan of attack?" she asked as she appeared next to him and threw her swords at the monster.

"Let's find out!" he shouted and twisted his key a second in his chest, "Get him, Missile!"

The little Pomeranian glowed green, and for a brief instance it looked like everything around the battle did the same. What stood out the most was that in that exact same second all of Hidan's movement stopped as if time itself had frozen over, "_**Mister Naruto, this is your opening!**_" the little doggie barked at its user.

"Alucard!" Naruto shouted, summoning the pale skinned man into battle.

Ragna's scythe landed on Hidan's midsection and nailed itself there while the albino grunted and grabbed the heavy weapon with both hands before, with a roar, he sliced through the monster's torso like a scalpel, opening the ribcage from side to side. Ramlethal's swords nailed the Shadow's shoulders, pushing them up and keeping him locked on the ceiling before she jumped towards Ryuuko. The glowing Ace jumped up and spun around to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick to the Shadow's sternum, causing an echoing crack to fly through the tunnel. Mid-flight, Ryuuko had been joined by Rajyaki, the delinquent-like girl swung her swords and left a large gash on the monster's neck which the demon girl used to ram her fist into his throat with a fiery fist, and as Hidan opened his mouth Ryuuko smiled upon seeing Ramlethal lift one foot to kick his chin, forcing the enormous Shadow to bite his tongue. Naruto and Alucard watched the demon stagger back and jumped at it, their swords pulled back for a swing across the Shadow's scythe eyes.

Hidan cried… or so he seemed, "**Ah! The pain! It is… too much!**" Yeah, no soul could be stupid enough to buy that.

"Go down already!" Ragna shouted, readying his scythe.

Hidan smirked, "**Shouldn't you tell that to your little friend?**" he said and turned towards Ryuuko, "**Right now, thanks to you, she should be in pure agony.**"

The group turned to Ryuuko, who smirked, "Sorry, I'm a little tougher than I look."

"**What?!**" to see the beaten up Shadow so shocked was priceless, "**You should be dead, you little daughter of a swine!**"

Naruto smirked, "Not with Missile around…" he said and could hear the Pomeranian barking happily in his head, "He may not be strong, but I finally get what his powers are about:" he aimed a finger at the Shadow, "To stop the likes of you from harming others for whatever delusions you have."

Hidan roared, "**Dirty heathen! You dare stop a worshipper of the true god of this world?! I shall teach you… For our true master's sake!**"

Ace chortled, "Good luck on that, buddy. You try to hurt one of us, then get ready for the rest to come kick your ass." He aimed a clenched fist at the demon and spoke seriously, "You've seen how strong we are when we get serious. That's not even half of what I got in store for anyone who tries to hurt my friends."

Hidan froze, then grinned like the madman/mad-Shadow he was, and raised his weaponless hands, clasping them together, "**Oh Lord who rests in Darkness…**"

Ragna arched a brow, "It's too late to start praying, pal."

"**Allow thy vessel to achieve true power. Grant power to slay thy enemies. My duty shall be to curse for thou.**"

Ryuuko grunted, still hurt, "Shit, this can't be good."

Hidan's eyes bled, crimson tears falling down, and soon the crushed eyeballs were popped out of the sockets. The Shadow's whole body started to shake and convulse. It was like watching a balloon being filled with all sorts of nasty things, growing in size but with disproportionate chunks on every side. The group felt tempted to run in case Hidan popped up and the explosion took the tunnels down with them in. Just when it seemed like Hidan's body couldn't contain more mass, it was like someone let all the air escape from the balloon.

Flesh fell down all around the gashes, the scythes fell on the floor, and Hidan's body had been reduced to mere skin and bones that soon started to disappear like any other Shadow, only to reveal something far different. It was Hidan, all right, but he was smaller, much smaller.

It was a being the size of a normal adult, and once again it was only a torso. The same design that Hidan had of pitch black skin and a white skeleton paintjob remained there. The torso floated, its spinal cord once again showing as it hung limply. But now the Shadow's smaller body had clothing, a black cloak with red clouds printed on it. Said cloak had four sleeves for each of the Shadow's arms. Once again, one hand wielded the strange medallion, the other was in a praying pose, and the other two held the large three-bladed scythes, once again chained to the torso's guts. But what stood out was that Hidan's head had changed. Any sign of skin was gone, it was only a skull with amber eyes staring at the quintet before him, with sharp rows of fangs from one side of the skull to the other, and it still had that long hanging tongue.

Ramlethal tilted her head, "Master… Do you believe he made that prayer on the spot?"

Hidan's eyes turned to the girl, "**Watch it, you little pig sow! I speak to my god from the bottom of my heart!**" he sounded mad, but the lack of face made it hard to picture it.

Both parties got ready to fight yet again, but Hidan didn't move. Everyone's ears flicked at a strange sound, steps. The sound of heels clicking on the concrete floor made everyone, even Hidan, turn around to the darkness of a tunnel. The steps stopped, and were followed by slow, mocking clapping.

"That's far enough, Hidan." The person in the darkness, definitely a male, said with a low and deep voice, "You've already proven that Ragna is no threat to us. Neither is any of these kids, not even the failure or the one she wants to protect."

Ragna's eyes flashed with untold fury at the sound of that voice, "You… You venomous son of a bitch!" he raced at the darkness, scythe more than ready for blood when he swung it down. That's when a hand came out of the darkness.

Not only did the hand stop the scythe, but it didn't flinch while doing so with just one finger!

"Impatient as always." The low voice said, and Naruto could picture the figure in the darkness was grinning, "How about you return to your owner, little puppy?" Ragna stepped forward, trying to push his scythe's blade towards the figure, only to be blasted back. Nothing came out of the darkness, but the albino was shot backwards by something invisible. "Realize this, Ragna, no matter who sides with you, even that sad excuse of a girl, you're a human. You can never rise beyond what you are."

"ASURA!"

The six-armed red man appeared and caught the albino while his user and friends rushed at the figure in the darkness. The Fool Arcana Persona set down the beaten up Ragna, disappearing while the other kids rushed at the figure in the darkness. They all jumped and attacked, Ramlethal with her swords and a lashing kick, Ryuuko with both swords and Rajyaki at her side, Ace with a mean straight punch and Negi on his left shoulder, and Naruto with his sword above his head and Alucard appearing yet again with his at his side.

As one the four attacked, along the Personas, amusing the man in the shadows, "Still not enough." All their attacks landed on some sort of invisible wall, clashing on air and a couple of feet away from the man, "Naruto Uzumaki… Your willpower to stand up to Hidan is outstanding. You even managed to use it to win that little victory of yours, and defeat the weakest of Hidan's brethren."

And like with Ragna, all four fighters were blasted backwards on their backs, making the figure chuckle, "What's so funny?" Naruto asked through bared teeth, his hands using his sword for support and his eyes glaring holes at the shadows before him.

The figure finally stepped out of the darkness, and everyone who saw him felt their hearts skip a bit, "I assumed I chose better than you…"

The figure in the darkness was… Naruto… Same face, same skin, same uniform, same hair, same body build, and same birthmarks. It would be like staring at a mirror, if it weren't for the eyes. A black sclera surrounded pure gold orbs that stared at the real Naruto with mirth.

"Who are you?!" Naruto asked.

The dark Naruto chuckled, "I am the true self of mankind. Your face was the one I thought would fit me best… Alas, I am saying too much."

With a snap of his fingers, the dark being left like he had never been there.

XXXXXX

In the Velvet Room, Igor could only stare into the distance at what had happened, "He has arrived sooner than expected... What could he be plotting with this world?"

Tabitha stared at the group and their Personas, "They were fighting no ordinary enemy with Personas they barely started to use. At this moment this is the most profitable result."

Igor nodded, "Indeed. They know what they're facing now. The only question is how far will they go after a glimpse of what is to come?"

Tabitha stared at the blond boy, seeing him struggle to get up, "I think we should have more faith on our guest, master."

Igor arched a brow, "Is it something that caught your interest?"

She smiled, "Even after what happened, he still tries to stand up. And... he is not alone."

XXXXXX

Naruto forced himself to his feet, but he could feel all of his energy drained after that last attack. His knees gave in… and he fell into Ragna's arm.

"W-What?" he gasped.

The albino gritted his teeth, "We can talk later… That asshole won't be back for a long time…"

Naruto sighed, "Do you still want to kill me?"

Ragna sighed too, "Help me drag your friends out of here, and I'll think about it."

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**Yeah, sorry for the evil cliffhanger and the way I am showing villains like this.**

**Also, yes, I know I am an evil asshole for pulling the whole "villain wins to show heroes how powerless they are" card, and the "forced loss battle" one.**

**I promise that this is a first and last, ok?**

**I just wanted to put a lot of things on the plate for you all to see and ponder what is going on. Some hardcore Persona fans may have some idea on that, but there are bigger plans involving Naruto and the gang.**

**New Personas!**

Negi (From Negima) – Magician Arcana, a powerful and shy little mage boy who makes girls weak on the knees.

Rajyaki (From Muramasa: the Demon Blade) – Chariot Arcana, a hyperactive demon girl who wishes to marry a man who may show her love.

**By the way, in case you were wondering about why I didn't put Rukia's bio in the last chapter, well, some characters that will appear won't have a Social Link. Others' will appear later when Naruto properly interacts with them or gets to know something about them besides any first impressions he may have of them. So, yeah, hers will appear later, sorry if the excuse sounds like bullshit but I write this sort of like a Persona game and I'm committed to that.**

**Swordslinger out!**


	5. Chapter 5

I OWN NOTHING

Ok, time to do what all Persona fans want to see in a story based off that game: interactions between the characters we know and love.

**XXXXXX**

Social Link Go!

"We… lost…"

He wasn't even aware if he was awake or not, those words just left his mouth. Naruto sat on his futon and stared to his side at the sitting figure of Ichigo. The orange haired boy didn't say a thing first, he stared at Naruto for a sign of life while the blond slept peacefully. Naruto was about to ask how he got there, but remembered how he and Ragna pulled the rest of the team out of the mirror before they collapsed before the rest of the gang. Sol's mouth hung open, the chairman looked like he lost three heartbeats, Ichigo made a face like he swallowed ice, and Satsuki looked way more serious than usual, like she were in a debate with a really crooked person that kicked her puppy or something.

"Yes, you did." Ichigo replied with a sigh and stared at the blond get up, sitting on his bed with only his pants and his torso covered by a white muscle shirt. "I'm surprised you made it so far. Once we lost communication Satsuki and I were about to get you." he looked down, "I… I'm sorry."

"About what?" Naruto was worried. What happened while he was unconscious? Did someone… "Is everyone ok?!"

Ichigo nodded, "They'll make it. Their pride, not so much." He stood up and scratched the back of his head, "I'll call the chairman, and-"

"What were you sorry for?" Naruto asked.

Ichigo sighed and let it all out, "Back when we lost you, I was afraid you could be in trouble but… I decided to give you a chance." He gritted his teeth as he paused, but continued, "Satsuki even put her trust after I told her to wait. Just when we were about to get you, all of you popped out of the mirror… Ace, you, that punk of Ragna, Ramlethal… and even Ryuuko. You five passed out."

Naruto held his head, feeling like it was lighter, "Are they seriously hurt?"

A deep voice answered him, "No. Once again, you're either lucky or too stupid to die, kid." Sol appeared on the doorway, arms crossed and a stern look on his face, "Your girlfriend made it ok, but Satsuki and the Boy Scout are watching her closely after what we learned."

"Did everyone wake up?" Naruto asked, trying to lift his body only to be pushed down by Sol.

"Yes. It hasn't been a day yet at that, thought that punk that helped you drag the others is still KO. It's nighttime already, and you need your rest."

Naruto sighed and looked down, "I guess…" he then looked at Sol, "Can we… go back to the Silver World?"

Sol's eyes widened, "Kid, are you crazy? Who knows what you found, but it kicked your ass. You better not think about-"

"I am!" Naruto shouted, and before Sol could reply, he said something that shocked the man and the redhead boy in the room, "I'm scared, ok?!" he shouted, gripping his sheets, "I was terrified, I thought I was going to die, but… but…" he gritted his teeth, "I… I wasn't able to do anything for anyone… Ram-chan, Ryu-chan, Ace, and even Ragna… We all tried to fight but we weren't strong enough." He stared determined at Sol, "That's why I want to keep trying! If I just stop and freeze again or run then that fear I have won't go away. I've got to dace that thing again."

"What thing?" the newly arrived chairman asked, looking curious with Satsuki behind him staring concerned at the blond.

Naruto explained it all: his doppelganger, Hidan, how Ryuuko got beaten up by that Shadow, and how it all meant nothing when that fake Naruto appeared.

It all sounded serious and the atmosphere grew darker, but then Satsuki spoke up, "Uzumaki, I'd like you to go to sleep now." He couldn't even question the girl for she looked too sure and confident of what she spoke, "Tomorrow morning I want to take you somewhere. It shall be a surprise for you."

Doing as told, Naruto grumbled and turned around during his sleep. He couldn't even hear his Personas. No jokes from Dante, no cheer from Pit or Morrigan, not even Missile's barking. He ran over his head the events that led him to this. A copy of himself mocking him and the others, trying to make Ragna miserable for some odd reason. Whoever that copy was made Naruto's insides turn in an unpleasant manner just thinking about him. That was why he wanted to deal with such a monster, otherwise what'd be the point of running if he'd remain alive?

Morning greeted him and he found himself staring at his clock, he had been so stressed that he barely closed his eyes. Now he stared at his alarm clock and had to turn off said alarm before it hit its mark, "I just want to get this over with…" he mumbled and looked up, "Ace, Ryu-chan, Ram-chan, Ragna…" it was like a mantra, he was not even thinking when he said those names.

"You must really worry about them." Satsuki said in her uniform, staring at the sleepy blond, "You didn't eat dinner either."

His stomach grumbled in agreement, "I wasn't feeling hungry." He said honestly, "I could use some scrambled eggs now."

She sighed, "Put on your uniform and meet me downstairs in five minutes."

He once again did as told and found the fuzzy browed girl at the table with no visible signs of anyone else. Then again it was already six in the morning, "I've never been up this early."

She stared at him with a stoic face that put Ramlethal's to shame, "It is a habit one has to master." She replied, sipping from her tea cup a delicious hot beverage, "Would you like some?"

Naruto cringed, "I am not much of a tea person, too bitter for me."

She smiled, "I know the feeling… The first cup I had was harsh to me, but I still drank it all." She looked down at the now empty cup, "Someone I care about mastered how he made his tea just for me, so I kept drinking his brews to this day. Now I find it to be the most delicious treat I could ever have."

He smiled warmly, "I guess… I can try…" she smiled in that same manner that made him see why she was president of the student council and eagerly accepted his cup. It was like drinking hot leaves in a cup of water, an acquired taste indeed, "Uh… can I have some sugar?" he asked with a face that forced all of Satsuki's will power to not let out a laugh. His lips and eyes were twisted in ways impossible to picture.

"You needn't force yourself for me, Uzumaki." She said with a smile, while still putting two cubes of sugar in his cup, "You can try some cold milk to wash off the taste."

He nodded and stared at his cup, a question remained in his mind, "Why do you… call Ryuuko by her name?" he had been bothered by that detail for some time now, "You always address everyone so formally, it is odd to see you two being so friendly. Sorry if I bother you, I'm just curious."

Satsuki giggled, surprising Naruto with the brief but melodic laugh after he asked something so personal out of the blue, "I call another girl by her first name too. She is Nonon Jakuzure." She smiled, "She was my friend since childhood, and claims to be the one to understand me best."

He made a quick mental note after remembering where he had seen such a name, "But Ryuuko is a different case."

Satsuki nodded, "I have questioned this too, and even Ryuuko has. I just feel at ease calling her by her name rather than referring to her as Matoi." Her lips curled upwards further, "She's brash, thickheaded, has horrible tunnel vision, and won't listen to reason unless it is hers and no-one else's. But in battle there's few like her I'd trust to fight by my side."

He went silent, remembering the way Hidan cursed the red-streaked girl, and why, "She's one of a kind." He admitted with some awe on his tone, "She quickly stood up for Ramlethal when Hidan mocked her. I wanted to do the same, but she didn't waste time like I did."

"I guess part of that credit goes to you." Satsuki commented, "I heard how you defended Ryuuko, Kurosaki and Portgas in your classroom. Ryuuko informed me when she mentioned Valentine's actions earlier." She smiled at the blond, "Truth be told, I never thought I'd find someone as bold as you standing up for people he barely knows with such passion. I wish I had been there."

Heat reached his whiskered cheeks, making him wish to hide his face beneath his baseball hat, "Wow, you're making me blush."

She giggled again, making his cheeks grow redder. Sure, she wasn't your stereotypical Japanese beauty, but he'd have to be an idiot to not think that Satsuki had a unique charm, "Let's finish breakfast then."

They did just that and walked to school alone. The rest of the Truth Crafters were still asleep. Naruto briefly wondered where Ramlethal was, and could almost swear he saw her staring at him from one of the windows, specifically his bedroom's window. To take his mind off such a thing, he remembered another thing bugging him in the back of his head.

"Hey Satsuki." Said girl made a humming noise of acknowledgement, "Do you think you could call us by our names?"

"What do you mean, Uzumaki?"

He aimed a finger at her, "That right there. You always talk so formally, it makes me kind of envy Ryuuko and whoever Nonon is." He scratched the back of his head at such a blunt and bold statement, "I think Ichigo and Ace may feel more at ease if you talked to them without being so formal, as for me…" he paused a bit, "I think I'd like to be acknowledged by someone like you."

Satsuki blinked three times in a row, stared at him, and then chuckled, before letting out a brief and near silent laugh, "I never expected such a reason… Naruto."

The blond beamed, "Thanks, Sat-chan."

That made her pause, "Sat-chan?"

He rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, I've given Ryuuko and Ramlethal nicknames like those and wanted to try it with you." he smiled sheepishly, "You're very different of anyone I met. You're strong, calm, and always collected but you show a great kindness and…" he blushed, "I don't know, I really would like to be friends with someone like you."

He saw something he never would expect, Satsuki was blushing. She smiled too! And she replied, "Thank you for your kind words, Naruto. I didn't expect them, but I welcome them."

He grinned, inwardly cheering for himself.

XXXXXX

"UZUMAKI!"

Even before the school had more than just three students, which meant the transfer student and the student council president along the giant before Naruto and Satsuki, Gamagoori's voice boomed like he was trying to blow away a mountain with his vocal chords.

Then Satsuki stepped forward, "I have a favor to ask of you, Gamagoori."

The giant instantly kneeled down, "Ask anything you desire, Satsuki-sama. I will not object." His devotion to the girl was truly admirable.

"I believe there are spots left behind by the former members of the disciplinary club." She said and turned to Naruto, "I believe Naruto could benefit of working for you."

"Say no more!" the man roared with enough force to make Naruto's hat fly into the sky before it fell back on his head, "Uzumaki, I shall teach you the meaning of discipline and-"

Satsuki halted him with a hand before he could chew Naruto out, and given his size Naruto figured he could do so literally, "Not in that way, Gamagoori. I ask this because of some unfortunate event Uzumaki went through. I do believe you who always puts the students first could grant him better help than any staff member of this school."

"I see, then I apologize for my previous outburst, Uzumaki. However, I did hear how you handled issues with some people insulting your friends." He gave the blond a smirk that made him shiver, "While I applaud that attitude, I also frown down upon needless words and foolish blind anger. Justified or not, you are a student of this school, and no place in this society would let an adult burst out like that in an office."

Naruto cringed, "I thought you'd help me with my morale."

"I shall help you learn some discipline, both in your soul and in your life!" Gamagoori stated, nearly blowing out the school's windows with his voice.

Naruto swiftly saluted him with his eyes squinted in fear and his mouth twisted like he had drank more of Satsuki's bitter tea, "Y-Yes sir…"

"That's better, now come this way." He said and the blond followed him close behind.

Satsuki tried to hold back something, but let it out, "Sat-chan…" she said, as if tasting that nickname. "I guess I could get used to it."

XXXXXX

"As a member of my disciplinary committee I expect you to follow the school's ironclad rules." Gamagoori said with Naruto close behind, who held the small book that the giant of a student handed him, "They're your standard school rules which you can skim, but I still expect you to read them fully."

"You're being too lenient on me, senpai." Naruto commented, "Is that really ok?"

Gamagoori nodded with his ever stoic face that would be second only Satsuki's when said girl was serious, "I shall see to it that you know them, so it's up to you to see how lenient I am."

Naruto gulped, "Dully noted."

"You shall report to me for any misbehaving students, keep order in your classroom and, if need be, come to me should the need appear." He then pulled out a special gold card, "This card shall grant you special access to the student meetings held by Satsuki-sama. You may not enter the main room at times, but do not think badly of it, it just means that the captains and presidents of the school have more work to do than you. Oh, and it also lets you eat with us if you feel like it. Just keep in mind that I am your superior and expect you to be formal, alert, and always at the service of the students."

Naruto nodded, a bit lost but he could tell he had to give it his A game while he voiced his thoughts, "You take a lot of pride in this, senpai. I don't think I've seen anyone as devoted as you."

Gamagoori glared at him, making the smaller blond flinch, "Uzumaki, in this school I am second in devotion, determination, and true righteousness to Satsuki-sama! Remember that well!"

Naruto cringed, he felt like the larger student's words stabbed him, and tried to stand tall, "So… you really admire her." He stated, hoping to save the conversation by being even more honest, "To be honest, so do I."

Gamagoori's features softened, you could tell if you had a microscope, "I'd expect nothing less from someone who meets her and sees a piece of what is in her heart." He looked up in pride, "If I can be of any use to her… no, to people like her to ensure that the students are polished into true models of this world, I have nothing to regret."

The whiskered boy chuckled, "You sound like a samurai, senpai. I can imagine her as some queen and you standing there in armor ready to fight for her."

Gamagoori looked down at the shorter blond and allowed another brief if microscopic smile, "I can see why she'd put you under my command."

"Huh?"

"It's that attitude of yours." He put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, to Naruto it was like he had been slapped by a disembodied torso. Naruto felt his knees about to give in, and they were not because of the weight but because of the man's stern gaze on him, "She gave me a challenge to mold you into a perfect student!"

"What?!" the boy cried.

"Such lack of manners on your part needs to be corrected, Uzumaki, and I shall be the perfect master!" he glared harder, and the skies seemed to shadow his eyes which for some reason were glowing with some power that would terrify demons, "I'll make you into my disciple!"

Naruto started to sweat, "I think I'll…" his voice died in his throat when Gamagoori's grip tightened on his shoulder, making Naruto feel like his joint had been turned into dust, "…accept…" he breathed painfully out.

Gamagoori released his grip, and Naruto fought back the need to whimper when he felt like his shoulder had been dislocated. "Good, now follow me. We have much to-"

"Going through the highway of life~! I know I can crash but I don't mind~! Life is all about going with the yellow light~!"

There was no mistaking such airheaded, otherworldly, downright bizarre cheer in such an odd song. Mankanshoku Mako had arrived with a skip on her step, a smile on her face, and her hamster like features brighter than usual. Her uniform was well-kept and she had a lunch box in her hand and a suitcase on the other. Naruto noticed she had an odd paper too.

"Ah, if it isn't Naruto-kun~!" the coconut head cried before she tackled the blond Persona user. It was then that Naruto thanked Gamagoori being there when the giant picked Mako up by the back of her collar with his index finger and thumb. It was like a train hit Naruto's brain when he saw the large student's face, and so he plugged his ears with his fingers.

"Mankanshoku, what're you doing here?"

Naruto watched in amazement the large man's calm and ever stoic state. He expected Mako's hair getting flung backwards by a powerful shout from the titan of a student, which is why Naruto was more than amazed that she wasn't deaf, "Ah, Gamagoori-senpai! What're you doing here?!" she cried in surprise.

Gamagoori narrowed his eyes, "Watch out, Mankanshoku. For a moment you could have injured yourself and a fellow student."

Mako grinned more, "But…" and from her suitcase, defying all logic, she pulled out another lunchbox which was the size of Gamagoori's hand – give or take forty pounds worth of food, "…I made you some lunch too! I was making this for Ryuuko-chan and I, but then I thought I'd share some with you!"

Naruto had unplugged his ears the moment the conversation started, "You know each other?" Gamagoori regained his composure and set down Mako, dusted some dirt off one shoulder that only some deity may know how she got it, and even was polite enough to carry her suitcase while walking forward with the two smaller teens close behind.

Gamagoori replied as they moved, "Mankanshoku is a true friend to Matoi Ryuuko, and with the comradery the two share I usually find them together at nearly all times." He stated it all like a soldier, "More than once have I tried to kick out Mankanshoku from Matoi's class when she smuggled food for her whenever Matoi was in detention. But since she isn't really breaking the rules by bringing a fellow student their lunch, I can't really fault her of anything."

Mako nodded energetically, "And I also enjoy being with Ryuuko-chan! It's way better than being on my own! I really want to see her more!" she pumped her arms, and Naruto could have some brain damage from a massive loss of blood from his still pained shoulder thanks to Gamagoori's grip, but he could swear that the heavens shone some light on Mako: "Friends are the switch to life! You just have to reach out into space and hold on to it! If you can't reach out to them or help anyone, you're not good enough! That's why I got to try harder to spend lunch time with Ryuuko-chan, otherwise if our bond in the universe were gone I'd rather die!"

The smaller blond was baffled, while the tallest man alive was a different case, he looked like he had gone through a revelation, "So you're saying that not only do you need to know someone as another person working by your side to push yourself and break your limits, but it is by knowing what is inside of them what accomplishes far better results?" he put a hand on his chin deep in thought, "Once again, Mankanshoku's wisdom is something I have to take to heart."

Naruto watched Mako cheer and Gamagoori take notes of her words.

He could stare at them and smile all day, "So…" Naruto started with a grin, "You're actually nice to girls. I guess you would be considering how you act."

"Explain, Uzumaki." The tall student said with his stoic expression back in place.

"You're very polite but you also give a damn." Gamagoori raised a brow at the language the blond used, "To put it in Ryuuko's words." He explained less he suffer another possible shoulder injury, "Case and point, you actually helped Mako back there when she greeted me so neither of us got hurt." He smiled broadly, "I like meeting people like you, senpai. You're a really nice guy."

Gamagoori's eyes widened slightly, "Well…" he looked at the two and sighed, "I never expected to find people like you two, to be honest. There are those who fight for whatever they want, but you two seem to stick to what you care for. Such simple-minded passion is something I can't help but admire."

Naruto was a bit dumbfounded, '_Did he insult or compliment us? Well, whatever. We got stuff to do._'

After biding Mako some farewell, the two blond teens continued their path. "Aren't you going to ask why her uniform isn't like the others'?"

The whiskered boy near jumped out of his sockets at the sudden question, "W-Well, it didn't cross my mind, senpai."

Gamagoori narrowed his eyes on him, not a glare but still a heated stare, "Uzumaki, as a member of the disciplinary committee I expect you to see any flaws in the students' appearance and attitude and make sure to change them accordingly." He held up his rule book, "If you read page three, paragraph two, line seven, it says clearly that Mankanshoku's uniform isn't allowed in our school. However, on the next paragraph below the image of Byakuya High's formal school outfit there's a list of exceptions to this rule, such as but not limited to: inability to allow the uniform, wearing the uniform of a different school if one is a transfer student which is your case, and, Mankanshoku's case, to be part of a club."

"Mako's in a club?" Naruto asked as he looked up, trying to picture that, "Which one?" It was hard if he didn't have a clue, and Mako was too weird to be put in anything normal.

"Tennis." Gamagoori replied flatly, proving that the quirky girl could be in something normal.

"Huh… Never pictured her as the kind to play that sort of thing." Naruto admitted.

Gamagoori's features hardened slightly, "Indeed. I'll admit she is not… fit for it, even more considering the club's captain, but to see her trying her hardest to do something with her time is one of the reasons I try to be lenient on her. However, I'm not so lenient as to let her arrive late."

Naruto nodded, trying to hold back a grin at the idea of why Gamagoori would care so much for the coconut head. And then something hit him, "But isn't that uniform kind of unfit for tennis?"

Gamagoori sighed, "Indeed, but it is the one that she can afford, so I…" he coughed into his fist to compose himself for what he was about to say next, "Made an exception for her."

Now the blond really needed all of the universe's will power to not grin at the reasons the building sized student could have for helping the hamster-like girl.

The school rang, signaling that classes started, and so Naruto stood behind the giant of a man who stood perfectly still like a veteran of war ready to dish out discipline. Naruto forced his back to straighten, pulled back his shoulders, and mentally killed any and all noises in his head at the best of his skill. It didn't help when his Personas appeared in their ethereal, as in near transparent, form.

"_**Such an obedient and dedicated man is rare to find. I must say I envy Satsuki.**_" Morrigan's voice was naturally sultry, so Naruto had to mentally wipe any bad thoughts that could arise of himself tied to a chair and Satsuki in… "_**My, I can feel you desire for your link to grow with her.**_" With the way the succubus spoke he'd need a cold bath.

Alucard's voice rang next, "_**I must admit, though, there is something I can't quite put my finger on regarding Gamagoori. His admiration for Satsuki surpasses any form of worship I've seen in past centuries.**_"

Dante laughed, "_**Kind of simple, really. A guy like him means well, he takes what he does to heart, and to see someone else do a good job at what he is so passionate about earns them his admiration. That's usually how some people become insane jesters trying to take over the world or has some poor lady fighting to the death for what she believes.**_"

Pit made himself heard, "_**I think it's nice of him! I'm the same way with Lady Palutena! She means well to the point I'm ready to do anything she asks me to… except when it comes to monster pheromones.**_"

Veigar scoffed, "_**Fools, all of you! If there is power in someone, they should use it how they see fit.**_"

"_**Mister Naruto, your friends are nearby!**_" Missile spoke, his tail wagging happily as the little Pomeranian stared intently at the school gates.

Naruto was surprised to see Ryuuko walking without any effort, and he noticed that she didn't have any problem carrying her suitcase despite the injury she received on her shoulder in their battle with Hidan. She was amazed to see him, "Naruto? What're you doing here with Gamagoori of all people?" she pointed to the tower of a man.

Said towering student crossed his arms, "Satsuki-sama put him under my charge, Matoi. My guess is that she wants to help him achieve true-" he stopped and looked up, as if lost in thought, "Oh, right." He said after his brief pause and produced a small lunch box, "Mankanshoku left this with me in case I saw you."

"Wow, thanks, big guy." She replied.

"Matoi, address me as your senpai!" the giant roared back, near shaking the entire school with his voice.

"All right, geesh!" The girl replied, before turning to Naruto, "Could I… talk to your new charge for a moment?" Gamagoori raised a brow, "It'll be just a brief moment, there's something bothering me that I have to ask him." Gamagoori didn't seem to buy it, so she played her trump card, "It's something Satsuki wanted me to discuss with him."

"Very well." The tower of muscles replied, but his voice said that Ryuuko was better off not using Satsuki's name in any ill form. "And one last thing, Uzumaki." Said boy turned to him, "Considering your position in the school, you'll do well to keep your grades above the standards of this school. Satsuki-sama herself rewards those who exceed in their studies, so you'd do well to dedicate hours of your free time with good books."

Naruto nodded but inwardly groaned, studying wasn't something he considered fun.

XXXXXX

Ryuuko and Naruto walked through the halls of the school with Naruto feeling a bit uneasy, "I know what you're thinking." She said, breaking the silence and bringing him out of his thoughts as they neared a shed, "So don't worry. I'm fine. After you and Sunshine pulled us out that stripper fairy tended our wounds." Then she growled, "Bitch put a lot on our tab for that."

Naruto sighed, "If you're no longer in any pain, I'm fine with that." He said truthfully, "This isn't why you called me here, is it?"

She looked down, "It's a couple of things… We got our asses kicked, and I'm still coping with that, but…" she looked at him, "That guy with your face truly gave me the creeps. I can't put it simple, it's like I was actually looking at you no matter how different you were."

"I know, I'm still trying to accept anything that happened." He looked at her, trying to lock eyes, "I'm sorry for-"

Her palm on his mouth cut him off, and the characteristic tomboyish grin she had said she was as well as she could be, "Don't be, you'll sound like some sappy idiot." She put her hands in her pockets, "I did what I wanted for Ram after all that bullshit those morons spoke about her. I ain't going to regret it even if they tear off my arm." She clenched her fist, "Next time we go in… I don't want you worrying. I'm not stopping even if I die."

"Of course I'll worry!" he shouted, "Mako would be sad if something happened to you. Satsuki wouldn't have you around to cheer her day up. I… I would lose someone I really want as a friend."

Ryuuko snorted before letting out a laugh, but as she did so a smile and blush crept their way to her face, "Did you really have to be so corny?"

He blushed, "Sorry… I do want to know you all better. You, Satsuki, Ace, Ichigo, and now Gamagoori-senpai and Mako too."

She laughed again, "Gamagoori may be a challenge, but go right ahead." She calmed down, "But, what of Ramlethal?"

The silence was enough to make one able to hear a pin drop, "I'm not sure."

Ryuuko nodded with a more stern expression, "Listen, I apologize for bringing it up after trying to cheer you up, but you can't deny that there's something wrong with her. She's not even human."

Naruto looked down, unable to counter that, "I don't know how to cross that bridge."

"Satsuki knows you will." Ryuuko replied, "You weren't the only one she talked to after we got out asses kicked. She and I had a nice chat after we traded notes on the matter. Whatever you do…" she put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him, "…just be yourself."

Dumbfounded didn't begin to describe him, "Huh?"

She snickered with a brighter grin, "Yeah, just like that." She looked up, "You don't know a lot of things, yet I saw you speak with what you knew once. I have faith that you're stubborn enough to make her smile."

"How can you be so sure?" he blurted out, "I just said what first came to my mind, and I almost started a fight. What makes you believe in me?"

Her stare lasted a good five seconds before she answered him, "I'm also afraid."

"You?" he asked, unable to believe it.

She winced, one eye closed after admitting that, "Yeah, you heard me. I don't know how to fight smart like Satsuki, I don't have more than one Persona, and I only swing around my swords without a second thought. I even joined the kendo club to improve, and yet it's still not enough to be on Satsuki's level…" she sighed "Man, now I sound pathetic."

"No, y-"

"Yes, I do." she cut him off, "Geesh, this is why I was glad to hear from Satsuki after she checked on you." she said with a slow smile, "You're also afraid but you want to at least fight back. That's when I thought to myself I may as well give it another shot… I'm still trembling at the idea, though, but if it is possible to do something about it I may as well go all in until my blood is dried from my body."

Naruto did something so bold he took a couple of seconds to register it: he put his hands on her shoulders, "You're still not pathetic. Hell, I was the one that felt lucky to have you around when I entered the Silver World again. If you weren't there, I wouldn't have tried to fight as hard as I did back then." He said with all the intention to make her believe him, because he believed every word he said.

The red-streaked girl regained her composure after a second, which made her smile, "I still say you're corny, but…" she blushed, "Thanks, it feels nice to be told something like that."

They noticed the position they were in and Naruto let go of the smaller girl. Upon stepping back he finally had time to see he was actually taller than her, and in his mind he could figure now that he was about an inch taller than Satsuki… Boy was he in need of some growth spurt funstravaganza.

"Don't mention it." the blond replied politely.

"Anyway…" Ryuuko started with a drawl that Naruto noticed was characteristic to her, "You're now a private under Sergeant Gamagoori's wing. Think you can change the system?"

"Oh… you lost me, what?"

"Hah, I'm asking if you think you could either put a word whenever he's mad at me, or look the other way. For good reasons, I swear." Yeah, her smile wouldn't fool the most credulous person.

Naruto cringed at the idea of trying to play behind Gamagoori's humongous back, "Not going to happen… If I'm found out, Gamagoori-senpai will use me as shoe polish."

She snapped her fingers, "True, that guy would make it impossible even with some inside help. Worth a try, I guess." She then grinned in her own laidback and slightly feral looking way, "Sorry for talking about it. I shouldn't put you in trouble for little me."

He chuckled, "It's fine. I think I'm enjoying having friends who give me trouble with you, the others, and even Mako."

She gave his shoulder a slight punch, which he would have to rub later when she didn't see him, he didn't want to lose his man card, "I'll hold you to that."

He gave another brief laugh, "I'll try to warn you if you're ever in trouble, though."

Ryuuko grinned wider, "Well, ain't that sweet of you, Fishcake?"

Now it was his turn to be confused at a nickname, "Wait, really? Fishcake?"

"You call me Ryu-chan without buying me dinner." She shot back.

He snickered, "Yeah, good point. Maybe I should." He said, feeling his courage and charms increase, well, he wished to feel that way. Hey, he was making some conversation with an admittedly attractive girl, if one that he could fear with her attitude. But, truth be told, despite the looks and hot-blooded nature, Ryuuko was fun and he knew full well he could count on her.

"Should? Give it a try." She said, still grinning, "Don't dare to call it a date, though, I really hate all that mushy stuff. Makes me sick, to be honest."

"I did think you'd have a girly side considering how you hang out with Mako." He confessed.

She blushed but kept her grin, "I do… I like bunnies."

Naruto had some options:

-"Never figured you'd be the kind to go with that."

-"Bunnies? As in do you have bunny pajamas?"

-"I was expecting kittens or flowers."

But went with the one he thought more reasonable, "Sounds fun. Though, I don't know, I have some issues with bunnies myself." He admitted, "Back home I met this crazy old lady that made me think of one…" he shuddered, "She still gives me the creeps to this day."

"Your life must be fun, then." She quipped.

"No, just weird." He finally looked at her shoulder, "What happened to us after the fight? Did Trish really... Why are you here and not in a hospital?"

Ryuuko's face soured, "That stripper fairy nurse… She used whatever powers she had, and now my shoulder is as good as new. I don't even have a scar." she looked like she was trying hard not to gag, "You passed out midway into the hall as you tried to pull us out of the mirror or something, so that Ragna pulled all of us into her room. She healed us up and even you… Let me remind you she also put it all on your tab."

He sighed, "Well, isn't that lovely? Just what I wanted, to be reminded that I am in her debt." Sarcasm like the kind he used was so thick one would need a diamond cutter to get through it. Ryuuko felt bad for him, she really did, but before she could cheer him up, another voice cut her off.

"UZUMAKI!"

"Whoa! Got to go! I'll catch with you later, Ryu-chan!"

"I'll make sure you keep your word, Fishcake!" After that odd farewell Ryuuko walked forward with a small smile on her face, "Even after all we went through he still wants to be friends… What an odd guy." She giggled and held her formerly injured shoulder, "Good thing I can count on him."

Satsuki walked by her with a small smile, "I'm glad to hear it."

"You planned all of this, Eyebrows?" Ryuuko replied, staring at her senior while already knowing the answer.

The elder girl nodded, "Uzumaki has doubts. He will have to face those questions when the time comes, but…" she turned to see the blond bowing apologetically to Gamagoori only to see the giant man wave it off dismissively, "…he has an odd strength in him. I almost feel like I understand him."

"What do you mean, Satsuki?" the red streaked girl was really intrigued.

She giggled softly into her hand, "Just like how you called me just now by my name, I felt like I can do something more." She looked at him, "Naruto has his doubts, but we're here for him, just as he wants to be there for us."

Ryuuko couldn't help the smile on her face at hearing that, "So you just had him get a friendly chat with new and old faces so he could relax?"

"In short, yes." Satsuki told the smaller girl, "And I am glad to see you've grown up."

Ryuuko felt blood going to her head, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Satsuki remained calm, "Just now when you two talked, it looked like you were even more at ease than when you talk with Mako."

Ryuuko gasped and, as odd as it sounded, she had to admit the fuzzy browed girl was right. Of course, Mako lived in some reality of her own that made it hard to be completely at ease, but she would never change that.

XXXXXX

After meeting with Gamagoori it was time for classes once the human tower told him the proper ways to look for troublemakers. Naruto felt odd with all the stares. Some couldn't believe the new student was working along their disciplinary committee president, or that said transferred blond had gotten such a position by their student council president's good word. However, it seemed that Satsuki's image of a righteous student and the reputation of a great student president smashed to bits any possible thoughts that Naruto could be getting such places because of his charm.

In short, people were starting to wonder what he was really capable of. Even more so when it was lunch time and he sat along Ace and Ryuuko, and the blond spoke up, "Are you ok, Ace?" he whispered.

Said brawler sighed and leaned back on his seat, "Hey, I can take some pain. Just because yesterday was rough doesn't mean I'm down." He pulled down his hat to cover his face, but his mouth frowned, "If anything, it just makes me want to fight back harder." He tilted up his hat and grinned, "Like a certain someone I heard speaking across the building. You're really loud, don't you think?"

Naruto blushed, "Um, sorry if I woke you up."

Ace chuckled, "Are you kidding me? After listening to that little speech I can't wait to get back in business."

Ryuuko elbowed him, "Hey, don't go around spilling the beans."

"Sorry… But come on, you can't deny you want to keep trying."

"Yeah, I'll admit as much."

"Told you…" Ace smirked, "In a way, Naruto, you remind me of Luffy. Both of you are too stubborn, but try so hard it's a wonder to see it."

Naruto blushed again, grinning dumbly, "Hey, you're really going to make me blush."

Ryuuko chuckled, "Man, even your ears are red."

Ace smiled, "This weekend I'm bringing you two over to meet Luffy." He leaned back and covered his entire face with his hat, "I won't have a no for an answer. But for now I am full, so I'll count some sheep."

Ryuuko stared at the blond, "I guess this means we have plans for this weekend."

He shrugged, "I didn't have any to begin with."

The red-streaked girl felt a question at the back of her head finally breaking through, "What about talking to Ramlethal?"

Naruto felt like time had stopped, five seconds turned into an eternity, before he answered, "I plan on doing that today." He admitted slightly uneasily, "I don't even know how she's feeling."

Ace nodded, "In all honesty, who can blame you?" then he looked at his classmate straight in the eye, "But I know you and how much of a caring guy you are to the point you're kind of a doofus." The blond cringed at those words and the cowboy hatted boy laughed merrily, "If you get stuck, ask me for help."

"I'll back you up too." Ryuuko said, "After all, after everything that happened to her, I'd feel like a bitch if I didn't try anything to help her."

Naruto felt like a weight had been lifted off him, his chest was lighter. It was an enjoyable feeling.

XXXXXX

After classes, and now as an underling of Gamagoori's, Naruto had to work extra hard and monitor the halls in search of students that could be hidden. It was an odd job but apparently the school had run some problems with people making messes at night. It was easy to predict that being the man he is Gamagoori stood up for the challenge of finding and capturing the offenders.

Head of his charges or not, the human tower was also, well, human, "You're… different, Uzumaki." Gamagoori said with the tinier blond following him closely.

"How so, senpai?"

"You stand up straighter, almost prouder dare I say." The giant of a student exclaimed, "It was troubling me at first, but seeing you now after your interactions with Matoi and Mankanshoku I can safely say a weight was lifted bit by bit off you. And I can also see you have taken more than a liking to Satsuki-sama."

Naruto stepped back with a face of surprise, "Am I that easy to read?!"

Gamagoori chuckled, "You're a man that lets his emotions burst while being true to his heart. I can respect that." He pulled out a pair of keys, "Satsuki-sama is a woman I respected the moment I met her. Even if she was still in middle school I could never think of her as anything but a woman. That's why I follow her, and that is why I can make easy bets on who has admiration for her."

Naruto blushed, "Come on, senpai, you scared me there."

Gamagoori narrowed his eyes, "Uzumaki, I still expect you to address to me by name. I already forgave your first disregard of the honorifics."

Naruto cringed, "Sorry, Gamagoori-senpai."

"That's better." The giant then flicked a key into the air and caught it without even looking, "I understand you live not too far from here. But it is your first day monitoring the halls on my request to catch these criminals. May I offer you a ride home?"

Naruto blinked, "You can drive?"

"I got my license two months ago."

"Senpai… how old are you?"

"I'll turn twenty soon."

Naruto would have sprayed the walls with some liquid if he had been drinking anything to do a spit take, "H-How?! You're clearly smart to be in your position, so how-?!"

"UZUMAKI! DO NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE IN THESE HALLS!"

Naruto near whimpered, and tried to fight back the logic of calling the intimidating wall of muscle a hypocrite, "I'm still curious, though." He fought the urge to shiver like a leaf on the wind surprisingly well.

Gamagoori replied nonetheless, "I decided to follow Satsuki-sama to the end of the world. That is why when she entered my middle school when I was a senior and she a freshman I decided to wait two years for her to graduate. Yes!" he barked with pride, "I waited two years to follow that woman to the end of this world as her right hand! That's my sworn duty as her shield!"

Naruto leaned backwards, he saw Gamagoori grow so much in his eyes that he had to bend his back in order to see his eyes, "I… I can't believe it…"

Gamagoori nodded, "That's been my sole duty in this life, to work for the one woman that inspired me to be who I am." Then he put a hand on his chin, "I will admit she struck me as someone who would use anyone she needed for her goals but the more I looked into her, the more I could see she used her own strength… to gather help." He looked up, the memory must have had stirred something in him, something fond, "My memory of the event is still alive in my mind, I remember an unshakable warmth and true sense of overwhelming relief. It was as if I were looking at a savior I never asked for."

Naruto processed this, and after a ride home from Gamagoori he found the student council president sitting on a chair before a coffee table with a wonderfully smelling Darjeeling tea in the cup at her hands, "Sat-chan, did you… plan for all my meetings today?"

She didn't flick an eyebrow as she put down her hot beverage, "I won't deny it or fight back any accusations, Naruto."

He frowned, "Everyone you meet praises you, even I. That's why the more I thought about it, the more I see you're more cunning than you look."

Satsuki nodded, "I won't attempt to justify me. What you said is truth. I have been trying to use others for your development."

Naruto grinned, "Thank you."

Satsuki did something no soul would think possible, her eyes widened in surprise, "Uzu- I mean, Naruto, you're thanking me?"

He nodded, "I knew I was down, and I knew I was in need to get in gear but… I still couldn't find something in me to do so. But you… You did use others, but they still acted on their own free will around me regardless of what you said. Talking and meeting Gamagoori, chatting with Mako, and even getting Ryuuko to talk with me. You…" he chuckled, "You made me feel a bit more… alive. Like I had friends… Thank you."

She stared at him, registering what he said about having friends, "Naruto… I recognize and accept you as a great ally, but…" she closed her eyes and gave him a warm smile, "I also recognize and accept you as a friend. I may not admit it, but I've grown to enjoy the company of Ichigo and Ryuuko as time passed. With you and Ace here, I feel more at a strange ease."

Naruto blushed hard, "Thanks…" he said with a goofy grin, "But what do you mean strange ease?"

"I don't think life could ever be normal with people like them around."

"Touché."

"Let me go, you overgrown asshole!"

That wasn't any of the two students talking.

"Make me, Snow White!"

"You asked for it, old man!"

The two turned to see, with Satsuki raising a fuzzy eyebrow and Naruto's jaw slacking, Sol holding Ragna in a chokehold to keep the albino from leaving. Ragna's red jacket was gone, and he carried the large slab of metal that was his scythe in disguise. Behind them was Ky trying to help Sol restrain the albino with his arms around the latter's waist to pull him back and away from the door.

The two bolted to their feet, well, Naruto did while Satsuki calmly walked to the three other males, "Satsuki, a little help if it's not too much trouble." The chairman asked while holding Ragna's waist to try to push the wiggling teen back.

Satsuki merely pinched Ragna's shoulder. The albino cringed, and instantly fell limp, "H-Hey… did you kill him?" the newly arrived Ryuuko asked with a ghostlike look on her face.

"I just put him to sleep." Satsuki exclaimed while flicking a strand of hair behind her ear, "It should give us time to properly interrogate him."

Naruto watched her and the two grown men gazing at him, "Wait, him?" Ryuuko asked with a finger aimed at the blond and a look of disbelief worthy of being portrayed in a dictionary. "I know those looks. Satsuki's face said so already: you want him to fix this mess. Why?! Hasn't he had enough? We just dragged him into this and-"

"And I want to do it." Naruto cut her off with a warm smile and one hand on her shoulder, "Thank you for caring, but Ragna and I have to talk sooner or later…" he scratched the back of his head, "It's either that or never getting an answer of why he wants to kill me."

Ryuuko crossed her arms, "My dear, fearless and trusting leader… Are you nuts?" she looked at him with her eyes conveying the message that he better not answer until she was done, but his eyes said his answer. "You're really not backing down from this? Tch… Ok, I'll come with you, and I expect you to come too, Eyebrows. We may have chosen to do this, but he's still a newbie."

"Who says that word anymore?" Sol deadpanned.

"Can it." Ryuuko shot back, "I trust Naruto and everything, but there's things I feel we need to do ourselves too. Just leaving him to fend for himself, even if he's strong… Sorry, but that doesn't fly with me, and I won't have Mako losing a friend."

"And you kind of stick to someone, so expect me to be there too." Ace's voice reached from behind them, "Naruto, you're not the only one with a few words of choice to exchange with Ragna. Half of me still wants to punch his face in."

Naruto was afraid to ask but still did so, "And the other half?"

"To unite his face with the floor and my boot to the back of his head at the same time." Ace replied calmly, "It should be obvious, but no one hurts anyone in front of me and gets away with it."

Satsuki sighed, "All of you are determined. Very well, we shall do that. For now we should wait, though. It'll be some time before Ragna regains consciousness."

Naruto nodded and knew how he'd kill time, "Where is Ram-chan?"

XXXXXX

His room.

His window.

Looking down to the streets with a look far more distant and lifeless than before.

Her back was turned to him even after he announced his presence.

Ichigo was there by his side, "She hasn't touched her food." True to his words, a plate of now hardened toast sat on Naruto's desk beside a now warm glass of orange juice, and the jam and butter on said toast had attracted flies. The redhead pushed him forward, more like shoved him into his room, "Good luck, you'll need it." and with that he closed the door.

The blond sighed, "How am I supposed to talk to her?"

"You don't need to."

Naruto near lost a heartbeat when Ramlethal spoke in her ever monotone voice as she kept on looking down, "No, I don't need to, and I don't have to either…" he admitted, "I want to, Ram-chan." He said with all the determination he could muster.

She still didn't turn to him.

The silence unnerved him, "You… didn't come to school today. I was worried about you."

"You don't need to."

He bit back the strange feeling that one has when banging their head on a metaphorical wall, "I want to care and worry." He said as strongly as before, not letting this stop him, "Why wouldn't I need to?"

"I am… useless…"

Ramlethal's voice was always monotone, lacked warmth and any sign of life. But for the first time since he ever met her, after seeing a little progress on getting her to be more easygoing even if with his and others' instructions, those words she said sounded truly dead.

It made him angry, mad even, "What makes you say that?!" he shouted, unable to keep his voice down.

She finally turned at him, her eyes still devoid of any spark of life, but widened slightly at his outburst, "Mast- No… Naruto Uzumaki." She said dully, "Born on October tenth, sixteen years old. Possesses the Arcana of the Fool, the Wild Card of the Tarot. Those are some of the data files that were kept in my memory safe from anything that could delete them. Main objective: protect and serve. Secondary objective: destroy all enemies that dare target my master. This unit has no value or worth beyond serving her master. That is why when we acquired information on my existence being defect-"

"Would you cut that out?!"

Ramlethal's eyes widened in true shock for the first time in her life, and the dusky skinned blonde felt her heart beat faster than usual, "This reaction isn't needed." She said once she regained composure, "I was created to serve one Naruto Uzumaki. The one we saw before us, could he have be-"

"That doesn't matter." He said sternly as he grabbed her arms to make her look at him, "You saved me, you protected me. Whether that was an order or not, I don't give a damn. Whoever that double of mine is doesn't matter either, ok? And if you were made to serve him and harm me… Fine, see if I care."

"You're trusting an enemy that could attack you at any given time." Ramlethal said in her monotone, but her arms shifted uncomfortably in his grasp, "Why?"

A single question, and Naruto was more than willing to answer it, "Because I can have all the reasons to think you're bad, and yet it doesn't mean that you are."

"That… doesn't make sense." She was confused, for the first time in her existence she couldn't figure out how to reply to anything or if she should even react.

Naruto stepped back and smiled, "It doesn't have to when it's easy: you only know someone when you look past what they are." He looked down and chuckled, "When I arrived here, I tried to keep a promise I made to myself, to not be like others." He looked at her and smiled, "That's why when I met you, everyone here, my new classmates, Sol, the chairman, Mako… I wanted to see who you all are, not what you are."

"I'm not even human."

"I don't care." He said with his goofy grin back in place, "If anything, I think I like it more that everyone here gives me something new to worry about. Ryu-chan is a very boyish and aloof, Sat-chan is good in making one feel like she owns them, Ichigo is kind of too serious, Ace can be real scary when you say something bad about Luffy, Sol is scary already with his face alone, the chairman is very odd, Mako is just… Mako, and Gamagoori-senpai is very loud. But I can trust on Ryu-chan anytime I have a problem, I want to make Sat-chan recognize me, I may not know Ichigo but he can be very nice, Ace is perhaps the best big brother Luffy could ask for, Sol is actually smart and has good taste in music, the chairman is very polite and welcoming, Mako is… Mako, and Gamagoori-senpai deeply cares for others."

"What is your point?"

He sighed, "I know you're cold and don't deal very well with expressing yourself, but I want to see you for who you are. You're Ram-chan, the girl that swore to protect me. That's how I know you as, not what others say."

A beat, two beats, three beats that went too fast in her heart made the girl feel… odd, "M-Master…" she looked down, "I… I still desire to protect you."

And then, through the tiny gap in the door, six of the eight people Naruto mentioned went slack-jawed when the blond hugged the cat-like girl, "Whoa…" Ryuuko breathed out with a tint of red on her cheeks, "I mean… damn it, he's either really good or really lucky with saying whatever pops into his head."

Ace nodded, "This should help to get him to stop worrying. All we have to do is deal with Ragna in due time."

Ichigo watched as no one said a word in the room, "Should we really be doing this? I feel bad. It's like watching your relative try to get to first base with a chick, you want to watch it but you feel wrong."

"You're still watching." Satsuki said as she looked on.

It didn't take long and the group saw the dusky skinned girl's arms snake around Naruto's torso. Instinctively, the shark-toothed girl rested her head on the blond boy's shoulder.

Sol grinned, "Now this is getting good."

The chairman sighed, "We still have to move."

The others sighed and moved to the unconscious body they now had to drag to a room to keep an eye on him.

XXXXXX

At the Velvet Room, Igor chuckled behind his gloved hands' intertwined fingers, "The power of human empathy and determination. Ah, it still fascinates me after so many centuries of assisting so many young lads into these battles against the Shadows."

Tabitha pulled her braid back and wrote some notes quickly on her clipboard, her feather swiftly lashing from one side to the other, "The power of his bonds are nowhere near as strong as those of other users of the Fool Arcana, but his growth suggests he will arrive there."

Igor chuckled, "Right now he's made himself with three more Arcanas… Fittingly enough, one is a symbol of using one's power for the good of others, the second is the light found in crossroads, and the third is the path one shall take to find their light in the darkness. Truly a wonderful trio to gather."

Tabitha giggled, "I certainly can't wait for his next visit. Mother always told me of her dates with father in the realm the humans call their own."

Igor stared at her from the side, "Tabitha, I hope you're not suggesting…"

"I'm just trying to make a joke like humans do in their interactions, master. Forgive me." She said with a pleased smile and a bow, but in her head…

Tabitha did wonder what it'd be like to have someone say such kind words to her.

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know I am not a perfect writer but I tried my best to make Naruto be how he was supposed to be: a kid that can change others by trying hard to see deep in them the good they hold inside. And if you're thinking I am putting emphasis on pairing Ramlethal with Naruto… you're not far off, but this is Persona, I will try to give all the girls an equal treatment in the Persona way. Sadly, yes, I do have to say I am leaning for Ramlethal given how she strikes me so similarly to Naruto: forced to act because of what others say they are rather than by their own will.**

**If you think about it, I'd say they're kind of kindred spirits, at least in that regard.**

**And before you ask, yes, I am and shall always be shipping IraMako. I'm a sucker for that pairing, and I'll stay with that ship to the end of times.**

**Swordslinger out!**


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Naruto, Persona Series, Adventure, Humor