AN: A rewrite of My True Self.
Disclaimer: This is a blanket disclaimer, which means it applies to the whole chapters.
Scent 1: Who is the Monster?
It was raining. He hated the rain. Not because it was annoying and damp, but it was because rain brought back bad memories. And also because 'that person' always seemed to appear at this kind of time. "What do you want Izanami?"
The Goddess smiled solemnly at him, "Hello to you too Narukami-kun." They were standing under an empty gas station. Izanami wore a normal white kimono with sakura patterns instead of her gas attendant attire.
"Would you please stop appearing every time it is raining?" Yu noticed that she was watching him from afar, but this was actually the first after a long time that Izanami actually approached him.
"Aren't you at least curious about why I am here?" Yu raised an eyebrow at the question. He was sure before that he would've told her to 'go to hell' if they ever talked again. But right now, his heart wavered at the desperation in her voice.
"I'll listen to what you have to say."
The Goddess looked relieved and grateful at the same time. "Thank you," she said. "Do you know that there are other worlds besides yours and the TV World?"
"Not really, but I suspected it…"
Izanami nodded in acknowledgement, "Since you have purified the TV World, the Shadows shifted away to another place… A world far different from yours,"
"And what is the problem here?"
"That world… there are humans living there." Izanami looked downcast. "I wanted to save them."
Yu stared at her. That was right; he almost forgot that even though she almost destroyed the world, she did it because of her misguided caring for humanity. "So why don't you?"
The Goddess closed her eyes for a moment, "Because I can't."
"Why?"
"If I go there…" Izanami bit her lower lip, "There are chances that I will be overwhelmed by their desire and did what I did before…"
Yu was curious by her choice of words, but decided that there were more important matters at hand, "And you want me to go in your stead."
"Even with your power, I doubt you can do it by yourself." The Goddess glanced at him.
Being a genius he was; Yu quickly connected the dots, "You want me to bring my friends along."
"That is for you to decide."
They gazed at each other in silence.
"Very well, I was going to meet them anyway," Yu said as he broke the eye contact, "You should come and explain to them."
-Once upon a time there was a boy-
Teddie was excited, after six months he could finally meet his sensei again! Everyone else was excited too, but it was him who showed it so obviously. "Hey, hey, is sensei here yet?" The blond asked for the hundredth time.
"Can you see him here?" Yosuke asked in an annoyed tone. The team gathered at their 'HQ'. They decided to give Yu some time with Nanako-chan and Dojima-san before he met them. Too bad it started raining though, and the weather was fine before too…
"Ah! Senpai is here!" Rise squealed, "Wait, who is that with him?"
Before anyone could get a good look at the woman who was sharing an umbrella with Yu, Teddie's nose caught her scent first. His body went rigid. "That's…"
"Huh? You know her Ted?" Yosuke asked.
"That's Izanami!" Teddie said in a hushed voice.
"What? Ted, that's not po-" The droopy eyed teen's mouth hung open when he realized that the woman was indeed Izanami.
"Hey you guys." Yu greeted warmly.
The replies he got were, "WHO'S THAT BEHIND YOU?"
"That's Izanami."
"Don't say it as if it was normal!" Chie flailed, "What the hell is she doing here?"
"I've come to ask your assistance," Izanami answered.
"You-"
"Yosuke-senpai," Naoto cut him off, "I know how you feel, but the fact that Yu-senpai brought her here must means there is something important that needs our attention. So please, calm down."
Yosuke grumbled but saw her point. Yu gave the detective a grateful look, "Izanami."
The team leader gestured to the Goddess to explain her request.
"Thank you," She bowed in courtesy. The teens eyed her warily. She seemed to change. The hard aura that had surrounded her before felt soft now. Still, you can never be too careful. They sat in silence as Izanami told them her request. "The Shadows has been banished from the TV world, however, there are another place that they can enter. That world is filled with powers and beings that were lost in this world."
"So… they have Persona?" Kanji asked.
"No, their powers are different. If Persona used the physical and spiritual energy separately, their ability combined the two to make a new energy called chakra. But we are getting out of topic here. The Shadow started to enter that world because they are attracted by beings called Bijuu. Those beings are filled with negative emotions, and causes destruction wherever they went. Currently, most of them are being sealed away inside of humans called Jinchuuriki-"
"Wait… back up! Did you just say those monsters are being sealed inside of humans?" Yosuke raged. "Who would do that?"
"Unfortunately, it was the only way for humans." Izanami looked apologetic. "And even worse, they have to seal it inside of a newborn baby to make it work." The Inaba Team looked horrified by the revelation. "The Shadows would gather around those Jinchuurikis, especially the one that held the Kyuubi no Kitsune. That fox was the strongest of the nine bijuu and its Jinchuuriki would most likely be targeted first."
"Targeted first?" Naoto was curious. "You talked as if those Shadows were organized or something."
"Thankfully they are not. The Shadows acted by instinct. Something serious would trigger the appearance of Shadow around the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. I wish to help him, but I cannot go there. That is why I asked for your help."
After she finished, Yosuke was the first to react, "And how do we know this is not a trap?" He voiced his doubt.
"I believe her." Yu proclaimed.
"What?" Kanji looked at disbelief, "Senpai! This is the woman that made us go through all that shit!"
"I know, but would we be together now if it weren't for her?" The grey haired teen asked in all seriousness. Kanji looked uneasy and glanced away.
"Besides, even with all her misgivings, she truly wishes humanity's happiness." Izanami looked startled when Yu said that and a small smile graced her lips.
"Are you going to go there then?" Yu nodded at Yukiko's question.
"I see… then, I will come with you."
"Me too! I'm going to help you sensei!"
"Count me in!" Chie grinned.
"Let's do our best, senpai!" Rise smiled.
"Fine, since you said so," Yosuke mumbled.
"I will go too," Naoto tipped her hat.
"Alright! Let's go then!" Kanji pumped his fist.
Yu smiled at Izanami, "Guess we will all go then."
-Everyone called him a monster-
Something was horribly wrong here. Iruka knew that something bad would happen after Mizuki told Naruto that he was the Kyuubi. A dark mist started to appear around Naruto.
"I want to become the Hokage! Then everyone will recognize my existence!" Naruto's voice was echoing in the clearing. But everyone there knew that it wasn't Naruto who was talking.
"Become the Hokage? What a joke." The mist swirled wildly and began to form into something else. First appeared the right hand, then the shoulder, and so on until there was another boy in the mist, "I'd rather destroy the Hokage than become one," a wicked grin appeared on the newcomer's face. The adults shivered in fear. Not because he had the same face as Naruto, but because this 'Naruto' had blood red hair and nine-tails on his back. Everything about him screamed 'Kyuubi'.
The real Naruto backed away in shock, "Who—who are you?"
"Me? I am you… the real you."
"Wh—what?" The blond's confusion turned into fear.
"Every day you smile like an idiot, pretending not to notice those scums' hatred." The Kyuubi-Naruto spat, "If it were up to me… then I would have shown them our hatred! But no! Instead, you are the one in charge! I am sick of it!" He approached his blond counterpart who was frozen in place. The Other Naruto looked at the real Naruto in the eyes, "I will get back at them for mocking me, for all the hatred and pain they have caused me…"
"Are you…" Naruto was trembling at the sight of glowing golden eyes, "Are you Kyuubi?"
"Don't be silly," The redhead chuckled. The adults sighed in relieve. However, that small ease was wiped by his next words, "We are Kyuubi."
"No… you… you are lying!" The blond denied.
"Unlike you, I don't lie about us." He snorted.
"Shut up! You are not me!"
"Crap! We are late!" Iruka turned his head around when he heard someone cursing. It was a group of teenager with clothes that he has never seen before. Each one of them was carrying bags as if they were running away from home. Iruka didn't pay much attention to them anymore as the mist started to go crazy and swallowed the red haired Naruto whole.
"AhahAHAhAaHaA!" He laughed, "That's right! I am me now!" The mist burst with great ferocity, sending Naruto flying off his feet.
He was caught by one of the teens that seemed to be their leader, "You okay?"
Naruto didn't answer, instead he gasped. A distorted figure appeared from the mist. It was a giant black fox with a mouth that didn't split perfectly into a grin, showing its gleaming white fangs. Riding it was a person wearing a fox mask that covered only his or her eyes and nose. The person (or at least Naruto thought it was a person), wore a ragged kimono and a hood that covered his or her head. Naruto could see his or her skinny hand shackled and chained to the fox's neck. All in all, it was the most horrendous thing Naruto ever saw. "I am a Shadow, the True Self! They want a monster? I'll show them a Monster!"
Mizuki, who was trembling on one of the high branches all this time, finally regained his senses and ran away. "Oi, oi, where do you think you are going?" The fox glanced at Mizuki and one of its tails lashed out, aiming to skewer the chunnin on it.
When the traitorous chuunin thought that his life would be over, a metallic being with fiery patterns on it appeared in front of him and deflected the tail away with its sword. The muscular teen shouted at Mizuki, "What the hell are you waiting for? Run!"
There was no need for him to be told twice, Mizuki ran like hell.
"Huh? Who the hell are you? No matter, I'm going to kill you!" The Shadow flung another tail at the red being, hitting its shoulder.
"Gah!"
"Kanji!" The girl with twin pigtails shouted.
"Oooh, Interesting! So if I hurt this thing you get hurt too?" If it was even possible, the fox's grin became even wider, "So if I kill him I kill you too?"
With a mirthful laugh, the Shadow lunged toward its opponent.
"Now, Suzuka Gongen!" The girl with short hair shattered a card with her kick, "God's Hand!"
A being that looked like a samurai holding a double-bladed naginata appeared and attacked the fox's head, making its tail missed.
"Gah! You're gonna pay for that, girly!"
"Who are you calling girly, fugly?" She spat back.
"Rise, scan!" The leader ordered.
"Right!" The pigtailed girl joined her hands together as if she was about to pray. She was then surrounded in a blue glow and another being appeared. This time it was a woman with an antenna for a head. She put a visor over the girl's eyes.
"Teddie, Yukiko, heal the two of them! Naoto, cover them! Yosuke and I are going to join the fray!"
"Alright! Let's do this, partner!" Yosuke and the leader crushed their cards, summoning their own beings.
"Garudyne!" A mighty gust of wind appeared from Yosuke's being's spinning ring-blade. Iruka and Naruto saw it being blocked by an invisible shield around the Shadow.
"Yosuke-senpai, it's immune to elemental attacks!" Rise alerted them.
"Tch, fine then! Brave Blade!" The fight continued as Iruka and Naruto were surrounded by a warm light, created by a bear and a silver being. Naruto avoided eye contact with his teacher. Even if Iruka didn't hate him before, he must have hated him now. He finally saw the boy's 'true self' after all.
"Wha—what is that thing?" Iruka asked wearily, "That's… that's not the Kyuubi…"
"That is a Shadow; a being born from human emotions." The boy named Naoto answered. "This particular Shadow… it was born from your suppressed feelings, Uzumaki-san."
Naruto's eyes widened in sadness, "I see… so I really am a monster after all…"
"That's not true!" Yukiko disagreed, "Everyone has a shadow inside their heart! It's not just you!"
"That's right!" A bear suit—Teddie, Iruka reminded himself- nodded his head, "All of us here had to face our Shadows! Except sensei, he doesn't have one!"
"But-! But that thing said that I am a monster!" Naruto said in despair. Iruka could only look at his student. That was true, it did say that. Did that mean that he and The Third was wrong about Naruto, then?
Naoto sighed sadly, "It's what you believe, Uzumaki-san."
"Eh?"
"What that thing said isn't the truth, it is what you believe. You believe that you are a demon, that's why your shadow said that you are one," Naoto explained. Seeing his expression, it seemed that Naruto didn't get it. However, Iruka did.
"I see…" Iruka muttered.
"Wait, sir!" Yukiko protested as the academy teacher moved his body.
Much to Naruto's surprise his sensei hugged him. "Se—sensei?"
"I'm sorry Naruto… for a second I thought you were a monster…" Iruka admitted, making Naruto's heart flinch in pain.
"But… now I understand…" Iruka's hug became tighter, "Being alone with no one to acknowledge you… I know how you feel! A monster like Kyuubi wouldn't care about something like that, but you do! That's why, you are not a monster!" Unconsciously, Iruka shed some tears. Naruto was touched by his teacher's words and hugged him back.
"The Shadow is weakening! Yu-senpai, go!" Rise cheered.
"Megidolaon!" The white being spun his glowing double-edged sword, and the Shadow was consumed by a white light that exploded.
"AaAaAgH!" With an agonized scream, it returned to its humanoid self. Shadow Naruto was lying on the ground, beaten and battered. He looked more like a pitiful child than a monster.
"Shall we go meet your other self then?" Naoto offered to Naruto. The student and teacher looked at each other before smiling and confronted the shadow.
"What do you want?" Shadow Naruto growled.
Naruto looked determined. He kneeled down and faced his shadow. Somehow, those glowing eyes didn't look so scary anymore.
"Yeah, I know about those hateful glares directed at me, I know that they whispered something else besides being a 'no-good child' to their kids…" Iruka gazed sadly at his student.
"But I don't care anymore! Now I know that there's someone that truly cares about me! No amount of hatred can beat that!"
The teens and Iruka smiled. Naruto continued his speech, "From now on, I'm going to become a Hokage to protect those that I care about! And you are going to help me!" He pointed his finger at his other self. Shadow Naruto stared then snort in a weak amusement, "Fine then, you better do your best, me."
A blue light enveloped itself around Shadow Naruto. The sound of shattering glass rung through the air, and Shadow Naruto transformed. The fox wasn't black anymore; instead, its fur changed to pure white. Its mouth no longer had the ghastly, crooked grin, and the chain morphed into a red shimenawa—a sacred knot- that adorned its neck. The person that rode the fox now had kimono decorated with leaves of gold and bold crimson, a white fox mask, and looked much healthier now. Naruto wasn't sure if the person was a man or a woman, because even with his/her long red hair and slender feminine figure, it lacked the 'bust'.
"Thou art I, and I am Thou. Thou shalt be blessed by the persona Oinari, the Lord of Foxes, God of Rice, and Bringer of Worldly Success," a voice echoed in Naruto's mind, and the godly being in front of him turned into a card which dived into his soul.
"Of course, who the hell do you think I am…" Naruto whispered to himself.
-Those called humans tortured him with hatred-
An inhuman scream was heard late at night, waking several civilians. Those who got out of their beds to check saw several shinobi outside.
"Hey! What was that noise?"
"That brat just did something unforgivable!" answered one of them, "I doubt that Hokage-sama will forgive him this time!" The shinobi didn't even need to name the brat. Even with his hateful tone, it was pretty obvious who he was talking about.
The civilian who asked snorted, "Heh, finally showing his true self huh? Damn monster."
"Oi, Yama! Hurry up! The voice came from the east woods!" A shinobi with a scar across his left cheek yelled. Yama immediately bolted away with the others to investigate.
Most of the shinobi that were searching for Naruto gathered in the easernt woods. Inuzuka Tsume sniffed the air, trying to find the boy.
"Found him!" She barked and went further inside the woods with the others following her. They were halfway there when Tsume noticed several unidentified scents.
"Hey! Isn't that Mizuki?" A chuunin pointed at a lump that was sitting on a branch in front of them. They stopped and approached him. Tsume didn't know Mizuki personally, but she knew him from Kiba.
The smell of fear radiating from Mizuki's trembling body was evident, even if you were not an Inuzuka, "Hey, you are Mizuki right? What happened?"
"It's the fox… the fox…" Mizuki's eyes were wild, and his body was drenched in cold sweat, "I need to get out of here! Hurry, before it finds me!" He latched at Tsume, begging her to take him away.
"Whoa! Calm down!" Tsume was starting to worry. The fox? Did the seal break already? But she didn't feel its ominous chakra! It must be still in its human form then! So why is this chuunin so scared? "Hey, you over there, take this chuunin to the hospital or something! He's in no condition to help us!"
"Wait!" A familiar voice stopped them. The group of shinobi turned around and saw The Third with four ANBU at his side.
"Hokage-sama!" Tsume and the others bowed, "No need to send the ANBU, we can take care of the brat ourselves!"
"They are not for Naruto," Hiruzen glared, "Cat, Toad, arrest him." Before Mizuki could blink, two ANBU were already flanking him and took him away.
The others stared in shock.
"Wha—Hokage-sama?" was all Tsume could say.
"He broke the law and told Naruto about the Kyuubi," the old man answered.
"Does that really matter now? The monster has finally shown his true colors!" One chuunin shouted.
"It's not the Kyuubi," Hiruzen's voice sounded serious, "It had black fur and a rider; it was something else entirely…" The shinobi were wondering how he knew that. Not many knew about the Hokage's crystal ball, which he used to check on Naruto, "In any case, we have to hurry. Come."
Now, the search team led by the Hokage went to the clearing. Some of them could pick up people talking in the distance. When they arrived, they could see Iruka, Naruto, and a bunch of unidentified teens.
"So… I'm not Kyuubi? It's just sealed inside of me?" Hiruzen could hear Naruto's question. He sighed in relief, finding that the two of them were okay.
"Hey, who's that?" A short haired girl pointed at the search team's direction.
"Oh, Jiji!" Naruto waved at the Hokage, "Look! Iruka-sensei passed me!" He pointed at his hit-ate.
"Don't move so much, Uzumaki-san, you just received your Persona," A boy with hat put a hand on the Naruto's shoulder to calm him down.
"Eeeeh? But I feel just fine!" The blond whined.
"Seriously? Even I felt drained after I got mine." The short haired girl commented.
The Hokage coughed, and everyone's attention was back to him again, "I believe there are things that you must explain to me."
-Between the boy and the humans-
The Hokage told the search team to go home and let him deal with this. Even though some of them disagreed, they did as they were told. Iruka was brought to the hospital while Hiruzen took Naruto and the newcomers to his office. "Now, let's start with your identitities."
"I am Narukami Yu."
"Hanamura Yosuke."
"Satonaka Chie."
"Amagi Yukiko." She bowed slightly.
"Tch, Tatsumi Kanji."
"I'm Kujikawa Rise!" She said cheerfully.
"Teddie is Teddie!"
"And I'm Shirogane Naoto."
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes dangerously, "How did you know that Kyuubi was sealed inside of Naruto?"
"A goddess told us." Yu answered calmly.
"What? A goddess! You didn't tell me that!" Naruto's eyes were gleaming in excitement.
"What do you mean 'a goddess'?" The Third asked incredulously.
"A goddess, you know… immortal being? Tremendous power?" Kanji tried to explain.
"Yes, I know what a goddess is." Hiruzen sighed. Even though most of the Konoha shinobi were atheists, he was not. Because if Shinigami existed, then the other gods in the so-called myths had to be real too, "What I want to know is which Goddess, and why does she care?"
Because another thing that Hiruzen believed in was that gods didn't care about humans and their affairs. Because if they do, his life wouldn't be such a mess and Naruto would be living happily with his parents.
"It was Izanami that asked our help," Yu continued, "Before you say anything, yes, it was the Death Goddess Izanami, and yes, she truly cares about humans."
Naruto blinked, "The Goddess of Death sent you guys here? Does that mean you guys are Shinigamis?"
"No, we told you, we are Persona Users." Naoto reminded.
The Third looked confused, "And what is this 'Persona' you are talking about? Is it that Kyuubi-like monster that I saw?"
"No, that was a Shadow, the suppressed emotions of a human given form. When controlled by one's ego, it becomes a Persona," Hiruzen paid apt attention to Yu as he explained; "To put it bluntly, a Persona is a tamed Shadow."
"Is that so…" The old Hokage mused, "And all of you have one."
"Yep! Including Naruto-kun!" Teddie chirped, "Sensei is a special case though! He has more than one Persona!"
Yu smiled at Teddie before his expression turned grim again. "Those Shadows… they are attracted by the negative emotions surrounding this place. Izanami told us that she would do her best to keep the Shadows contained in this place, but it would be our job to protect the people here."
"And we hope Naruto would help us." Yosuke scratched the back of his head. "Not every one of us could stay here for more than a week. We kind of keep our job here secret so our family wouldn't worry."
"Of course I would help!" Naruto answered immediately. "I promised to protect everyone important to me after all!"
"From the way you speak about this, I assumed only Persona Users could hurt Shadow, yes?" Hiruzen's question was answered with a nod. The old man sighed in frustration. "I see… I was afraid of that…" Hiruzen massaged his temple, "And how could we banish these Shadows from Konoha?"
"We have to find the entrance first, and seal it." Rise repeated what Izanami told them. "I tried to scan this village earlier, but I can't seem to find it; not yet at least. It was as if something tried to blur my vision…."
"Is that so…" Hiruzen mulled over, "And I can't tell anyone about this lest it caused unnecessary panic…" He can't keep it quiet forever of course; he just hoped it won't be uncovered so quickly. He sensed a migraine coming in the near future.
"Umm… excuse me, sir. But do you know a place where we can stay for tonight?" Yukiko asked politely.
"You can stay at my place!" Naruto offered. "It has a LOT of empty rooms! That's okay Jiji?"
Hiruzen smiled, "Of course."
-Which one is the real monster?-
"Uwaaah, this place looks creepy." Chie commented as they walked towards Naruto's apartment. The closer they came to his place, the more the Persona users realized that Naruto didn't exactly have the best accommodation.
"Ah, sorry, I'm not saying that your place is bad…" She began to apologize.
"Nah, it's okay." Naruto grinned, "Because this place is so creepy nobody dares to disturb me here! It's like my own sanctuary!" The team looked at each other in sadness. They knew from Izanami that Naruto was treated horribly because of the fox sealed inside of him. Really, how could nobody see the real him? Were those people so blinded by hatred and fear that they could only see the demon sealed within Naruto? If so, then weren't they the real monsters?
AN: Before you guys commented, "Hey! Naoto is a girl!" I knew that! I referred her as a 'he' a couple of times because it was in Iruka's and Naruto's perspective. They still don't know Naoto's real gender.
And now… it's time for…
Yarra's Existential Corner!
~It's Symbolic!~
Now, let's all talk about Shadow Naruto's symbolism!
The rider: It was skinny and bounded to the fox, in fact, hardly anyone sees it. That was the symbolism of how everyone only saw the fox instead of Naruto himself. It wore a mask, just like how Naruto acting like an idiot to masked his loneliness.
The fox: Black instead of red, because it's not really the Kyuubi. Its jagged mouth was the pain that Naruto felt that couldn't be hidden by his fake smile.