Naruto: Thousand Soul Phrases
I do not own anything related to Naruto or Persona series

Summary: The power of Persona awakened in the world of ninjas. Along with that, the wielder of Wild Card also has been chosen. What kind of destiny that awaits Naruto at the end of his 'Journey'? Naruto/Persona X-Over NaruSaku, possible NaruHarem, strong Naruto

Chapter 4: The Chariot and the Missing Lovers

One month has passed since Sakura and Naruto trained together for the first time. Since then, they would train together after school to refine her skills. It was tiring, but the pink haired was grateful for it. Now her stamina and chakra reserve has increased as well as her Persona's spiritual level. Now at level 18, Konohana-Sakuya learned the new healing skill called Media. Sakura met Tenten, a senior Kunoichi Genin and a Persona User as well, during the training and learned that the brunette was Naruto's friend from the orphanage until she was adopted. Tenten also joined them in their training when she wasn't busy with missions and training with her team, just like today.

Sakura dodged the horizontal naginata slash by Tenten's Persona, Tomoe Gozen. She retaliated by unleashing Magaru spell toward the weapon using Kunoichi and her Persona. Tenten didn't get to dodge all of them and was hit by one of the wind vortexes. Didn't missing a chance to attack, Sakura strode forward with her fist cocked, but the brunette recovered just in time to block Sakura's fist with her forearm. They then broke up and Tenten channeled her physical power to her Persona in preparation of an attack.

"Tomoe Gozen! Double Fangs!"

The female warrior Persona poised her naginata in skewering position and lunged forward as she pierced Sakura twice. The first pierce nicked the green eyed girl's shoulder, but the second pierce was blocked by Konohana-Sakuya's fan. Thanking her Persona mentally, Sakura then charged at Tenten and the amber eyed kunoichi intercepted her. The two girls were locked into taijutsu combat as their Personae were also having a battle of their own. Sakura tried to elbow her opponent in the gut, but Tenten caught it and retaliated with a right hook on Sakura's face. Sakura was hit and sent flying but quickly recovered in time to see Tenten along with Tomoe Gozen strode at her and channeled her spiritual power to her Persona. With a mental command, Konohana-Sakuya waved her fans and vortex of green wind appeared in Tenten's path. The older Kunoichi used a Kawarimi replace herself with a log to the safety. The pink haired girl looked around for her opponent, but stopped when she felt something poked the back of Konohana-Sakuya. She turned to see Tenten grinning and Tomoe Gozen poised her naginata on her Persona.

"Looks like I win, Sakura."

Sakura sighed dejectedly and relaxed her stance as she dismissed Konohana-Sakuya. "I lost again. Looks like I still have a long way to go."

Tenten walked to her and placed her hand on her shoulder, smiling at the pink haired girl. "Don't feel bad, there's always next time. Maybe if you train some more you can really defeat me next time."

Sakura smiled back in response. She then took a good look on Tenten's Persona, Tomoe Gozen. She wore navy full body suit with grey trimmings under sleek dark grey and black feminine samurai armor. Her face was covered by silver mask with cross shaped slit and her yellow eyes were seen through the slit. She has long black hair and she wields a naginata with copper shaft and gleaming silver edged blade as her weapon.

"So how was that, Naruto?" asked Tenten as she dismissed her Persona.

"You both did a great job. Sakura-chan made a good progress today, but maybe you shouldn't waste your spiritual power too much on your spells. That goes the same for you, Tenten-chan. You should be more conservative on using your skills since all of them were physical skills. You don't want to fall unconscious because using your skills too much, do you?" commented Naruto.

"Gee, I'm supposed to be a Genin but here I am being tutored by an academy student," said the brunette jokingly and the trio laughed at that.

"Come on, let's go to the Ichiraku. This call for a little celebration," said the blonde.

The three of them then left the training ground and walked toward the ramen stool while chatting about some things on their way there.

"Say Naruto, I just noticed this. Personae are based from the mythologies and legends, right? Like your Susano-o who was the God of storm from the Shinto mythology," stated Sakura.

"That's right. Not only from the Shinto mythology, Personae were also based from the myths and legends of other civilizations during the Ancient Age," answered Naruto.

"I wonder how the Ancient Age ended? There's no actual record about that except the Great Catastrophe," wondered Tenten.

"From what I learned during my trip in the Outer World, the Ancient Age was destroyed when Humans become too arrogant for their own good. They tried to become a God with their technology. Their act angered the God, so He decided to unleash Supernatural Forces to destroy the human and their arrogance. This event then known widely as the Great Catastrophe. It is said that Kyuubi was one of those Supernatural Forces," explained Naruto, grimacing on the last part.

"What?" asked the two girls in unison.

"It's true. Kyuubi was the part of God's instrument to destroy the previous world. They then stayed in the mortal plane to act as the one who keep the balance of the world ever since the Great Catastrophe. However as the time goes on, their presence misinterpreted by humans as demons."

"I never knew of that," said Sakura in awe. "But what makes Kyuubi attacked the village fourteen years ago then?"

"That's…I don't know," answered Naruto uncertainly. He also wanted to know why his tenant attacked the village, but he never got the straight answer.

Sakura was about to say something when she noticed someone. "Hey, isn't that Ino's father?"

Both Naruto and Tenten shifted their attention to the elder Yamanaka. His face showed concern and worry as he was looking around, searching around for someone. He then spotted Sakura and walked toward the trio.

"Hello, Sakura. Have you seen my daughter around?"

"No sir, I haven't. Is something wrong with Ino-chan?"

Inoichi sighed and answered grimly. "Ino was missing since this morning."

"What?" said Sakura in surprise. "H-How that could happen?"

"I don't know. When my wife went to her room to wake her up, she's already missing"

"Have you looked around to the place she used to hang around, Yamanaka-san?" asked Tenten.

"I have and I can't find her anywhere," Inoichi's face grew solemn. "I don't recall that she has to do something today aside of working on the flower shop."

"Ino-chan…" Sakura didn't want to assume the worst could happen, but she couldn't help but worried with her best friend.

Naruto had the suspicion, but he still needed to ask something to his friend's father. "Yamanaka-san, did you notice something different with Ino yesterday or last night? Like she was hearing voices or sometimes staring at nothing…"

Inoichi went to thinking for a while before he answered the younger blonde. "Come to think it, yes, she was acting a bit strange yesterday. She said that she heard some eerie voice and she sometimes would stare at the wall blankly."

"Just as I thought," Naruto narrowed his eyes in reply. He then turned to Sakura and Tenten. "I want both of you to go home and fully geared yourself. Since Sakura-chan is still an academy student, you should borrow Tenten's weapon like some REAL kunai and shuriken."

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun? Do you know where Ino-chan is?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, I know and it's not in the place I'd like to go either," answered the blond with a grim expression.

"What do you mean, Naruto? Is the place where my daughter might be a dangerous place?" Inoichi didn't like Naruto's expression regarding the place where his daughter could be.

"The place where Ino-chan is right now is very dangerous and no one could ever survived there except for Persona Users. Do not worry Yamanaka-san, we will save Ino-chan," assured Naruto firmly.

Inoichi looked at Naruto for a while before he placed his hands on the younger blond's shoulder.

"I entrust you with my daughter's safety. Please save my little princess."

"I will Inoichi-san."

The Yamanaka clan head left and Naruto turned to Sakura and Tenten. "I know both of you still have some questions you wanted ask me, but for now Ino-chan's safety comes first. After both of you geared up, meet me on the foot of the Hokage Mountain in one hour."

He then left rather hurriedly while the two girls were still baffled with Naruto's sudden change of attitude.

"What made him so serious? I've never seen him like that aside the time he fought with Sasuke," said Sakura.

"I don't know, but we better follow what he said," replied Tenten. "Meet me in my apartment in half hour to pick up the weapons, 'kay?"

Sakura nodded and the two girls then parted way.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

Precisely one hour later, Sakura and Tenten arrived on the foot of the Hokage Monument where Naruto was already there with someone else. Neither of the girls recognized the person. The person was a woman in her early twenties with black hair that tied into spiky ponytail with two side bangs and sapphire blue eyes—like Naruto's. She was wearing green flak vest that usually wore by Chuunin and Jounin over a sleeveles black turtleneck top and ANBU styled pants. Her hitai-ate was tied securely on her left bicep.

"We're here, Naruto-kun. Can you tell us why you had us geared up like this?" asked Sakura.

"I will be explaining that to you," answered the black haired woman. "But maybe I should introduce myself first. My name is Kazeyuki Setsuna, a Jounin and Naruto's mentor as well."

"So you are Naruto-kun's mentor," replied Sakura. "You're also a Persona User?"

"That's right," Setsuna smiled in response before her expression turned serious. "Naruto had told me what happened. Your friend Ino has lost in another dimension called Alter Realm."

"Lost in another dimension? How is that possible?" asked a surprised Tenten.

"She was called there by a Shadow, the resident of the Alter Realm," answered the Jounin. "Normally, no one can enter the Alter Realm save for Persona Users. However, there will be times that normal people will be called by Shadows and ended up there."

"What will happen when someone got lost on the Alter Realm?" asked Sakura.

"If we're too late to save that person, than she will be as good as dead," answered Setsuna and Sakura gasped. "But don't worry, we can save her with your Persona."

"Normally Shadows are invulnerable against any normal means, but a Persona User can fight them equally and eventually defeat them. Besides, defeating Shadows can level up your Persona much more quickly. You can use it as training while we're saving Ino-chan on the way," explained Naruto continuing for his mentor. He then handed Sakura and Tenten each of them waist bags. "There are medicines and other useful stuffs inside these bags. You better take it with you because you'll need it during our mission."

The girls took the waist bag and strapped on their waist.

"Alright, let's get going. The more time we spend here, the less time we have to save your friend," said Setsuna. She then pointed to a black and red orb that Sakura and Tenten didn't know was there. "That's the entrance to the Alter Realm. It is only a one-way entrance and we will have to find exit if we want to get out."

"Are you ready to go?" asked Naruto.

"Let's go, Naruto-kun. We will save Ino-chan," answered Sakura with determination filling her eyes.

They then walked to the orb and surprised when it changed to a kind of door made purely by darkness, shrouded in red and black wisps. (A/N: Imagine the Corridor of Darkness from Kingdom Hearts, only it was red and black instead of black and purple). Naruto and Setsuna walked in first followed by Sakura and Tenten.

When they passed the red and black door, they found themselves in a place that looked like a twisted version of Konoha—or the world even. The sky was blood red instead of the usual blue and there was something like a moon on the sky, in half moon phase, also glowing in red light. There were blood-like substances oozing on the ground and mountain walls. The trees there were dead and had no leaves. All in all, the Alter Realm had 'death' written in all over its atmosphere.

"Welcome to the Alter Realm," said Naruto.

"This is the Alter Realm?" Tenten commented. "It looks so…dead."

"How come this place comes to exist?" Sakura asked.

"A theory said that this place comes to existence when the first Persona User awakened and then spreads out as more Persona Users awakened. But no one knows the truth and only a small number of Persona Users realized that this place exists at all," answered Setsuna.

"We should look for Ino-chan now," said Naruto as he looked at the half moon on the sky. "We don't have much time. Onee-chan, if you would."

Setsuna nodded and summoned her Persona card before crushing it, "Aid me, Tsukuyomi."

From the blue energy surge around the black haired Jounin, a Persona appeared. It was a woman with long silver hair and blue skin. She was wearing black kimono with dark blue obi and a gold head decoration with full moon and crescent moon symbol hanging by red tassels. Her face was decorated with white face paints and had serene expression.

Setsuna closed her eyes and focused her mind as she searched for Ino. Even though her Persona was more combat-based, Tsukuyomi also has the ability to search and scan albeit limited.

"What is she doing?" asked Tenten.

"She's searching for Ino-chan. Onee-chan's Persona is able to search for people and analyzing Shadows even though it was more combat-based Persona. You better not disturb her," answered Naruto.

"Wait, Onee-chan?" inquired Sakura.

"Yeah, to me she is the big sister that I never have before," answered the blonde with a smile.

"I found her," said Setsuna suddenly. "She is on the flower meadow in the west."

"The flower meadow…that's where me and Ino-chan used to play together!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Alright let's go. We'll use the road to get there while facing Shadows on the way," said Naruto, making Sakura and Tenten looked at him. "Just in case we will face a strong Shadow when we meet Ino-chan, we should prepare ourselves. Don't worry, the medicines in your waist bag are suffice for this journey."

"I'll follow you close by and perform the supporting role. Just ask me whenever you need to analyze your enemy," added Setsuna.

The group then walked toward the streets of Konoha. To Sakura and Tenten, it was eerie to see their village which usually was very lively became so deserted like this—not to mention that bloods were everywhere. They keep on walking until they met something that only could be described as weird and scary. It was a large black blob with red eyes and hands crawling on the ground. It then noticed the humans and suddenly dispersed into four other beings. Two of them were crawling black blob with hands and purple mask on its 'head'. The other two were like heads without body but complete with hairs and tiara along with magenta mask.

"What are those things?" asked Tenten as unsealed a Bo staff quickly.

"Shadows," hissed Naruto as he also drew a Kunai. "Spread out! Don't let those creeps got you!"

One of the masked blobs raised both of its hands as a small thunderbolt struck where Naruto was, only to have the blonde rolled aside and countering by summoning his Persona.

"Susano-o! Garula!"

The storm God waved his free hand and violent wind vortex ripped the Shadow apart and killed it instantly. Naruto then threw his kunai at the Tiara-species Shadow and the metal weapon struck right on its mask, causing it to shriek in pain. Not wasting any time the blond channeled his physical power to his Persona for the next attack.

"Fatal End!"

Susano-o dashed forward to the stunned Shadow and when it only two arms length from its target, he brought his sword overhead and swung down fast cleaving the Tiara-species in two. As he finished with his opponents, Naruto looked at Sakura and Tenten to see how they were faring.

This was the first time for the two girls fighting against Shadows so they were really cautious. Sakura firmly held her as she eyeing the Shadows in front of her. She didn't know what this thing could do. But suddenly an information about the Shadows she was fighting against popped in her head such as its name, Arcana, and its elemental alignments. She glanced at Setsuna who nodded at her and Sakura nodded back. It seems Tenten also got the same thing as her and with silent agreement, the two girls charged at their targets.

Sakura slashed with a kunai on her hand at the Tiara-species, but the floating hair dodged her attack. Sakura then quickly followed with a reverse-roundhouse kick that hit her intended target. The pink haired girl dodged just in time when chunk of ice appeared in where she was a second ago. She then willed her Persona card to appear and slashed it with her kunai after she channeled her spiritual power into it.

"Konohana-Sakuya! Garu!"

The vortex wind shredded the Shadow and disorienting it for a while. Not letting her chance to slip away, Sakura quickly approached her target and slashed at the mask. The Shadow shrieked before burst into black ichors.

"Euh…Disgusting…" Sakura commented as she looked at the remains of the Shadow.

Tenten was having a better time against the Shadow thanks to her experience as an active Genin. She smashed her staff at the Shadow right on the mask before whacked it aside sending the Shadow stumbling. As the weapon mistress strode forward, the Maya-species recovered quickly and sent a zap of electricity that hit her. Tenten let out a pained yelp and fell to the ground. She tried to stand up, but her body couldn't move. The Shadow then charged at her with its claw ready to rip her. The brunette closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain. Seconds later, a cry of pain was heard at the same time with wind shredding something. Tenten opened her eyes and she was surprise to see she was alright and the Shadow she faced was now nothing but pool of black ichor.

"Tenten-san, are you okay?" asked Sakura as she approached her senior with her Persona close by.

"I'm fine," the brunette replied as she accepted Sakura's hand to stand up. She winced as she felt pain after the attack hit her.

"Let me heal you," said Sakura as she saw Tenten wincing.

Konohana-Sakuya waved her fan and blue light surrounded the elder Genin. Tenten felt warmth as her pain lessened and her wounds healed.

"Thanks, Sakura. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it, Tenten-san."

"So, how was your first time against a Shadow?" asked Naruto as he approached the girls.

"I got careless on my first try. It was all thanks to Sakura here for the save," admitted Tenten.

"I'm not so sure at the first time, but I think I'll manage to it," said Sakura. "By the way, thanks for the information about the enemy earlier, Setsuna-san."

"Don't mention it. It was my job to support you three on this mission," replied the Jounin with a smile.

"Alright we'll continue on toward the flower meadow with fighting some Shadows on the way. Don't hesitate to take the medicines on the waist bag if necessary," Naruto ordered and his two friends acknowledged.

They trekked on the roads of Alter Konoha as the made their way to the flower meadow. On their way there, they encountered several Shadows and they dispatched them quickly. To Sakura and Tenten, it was a new experience to them. They carefully worked on the Shadows with Naruto at times lending a hand to them by using his buffing and de-buffing spells and Setsuna provided information about the Shadows to them—it was faster since she had come here several times with Naruto to train him.

It was when they near the meadow they encountered a Shadow that was different from anything that they encountered so far. Unlike other Shadows, this Shadow was already on its battle form instead of the black crawling blob. From Naruto's experience, it was a the Mage-species Shadow. Instead of the usual Hanged Man mask, it sports the Hierophant Arcana mask. The robe it wore also seemed to glitter a bit.

"Careful girls, I never encountered a Shadow like this before," Naruto warned.

"Do you think this Shadow is the one who called Ino-chan here?" asked Sakura.

"We'll find out soon enough," responded Tenten as she prepared her bo staff.

The Shadow roared and it unleashed Mabufula spell toward the party, which they swiftly dodged the ice spikes.

"Onee-chan! Scan it now!"

"On it!"

Naruto lunged forward with a kunai in his hand and tried to slash the Shadow. But the Shadow blocked the weapon by spinning its body, causing the sharp tattered end of the cloak to flutter. The blonde Jinchuuriki leapt backward and growled when his attack was parried. Sensing his party member prepared for an attack, the blond rolled aside as Tenten had her Persona to attack.

"Tomoe Gozen! Gale Slash!"

The legendary female samurai Persona swung her Naginata, causing winds to pick up and slashed at the Mage-species Shadow. But to her surprise, the attack only fazed the Shadow a bit before it quickly recovered.

"No way!" shouted Tenten in surprise.

"Then how about this! Konohana-Sakuya, Garu!" bellowed Sakura as she summoned her Persona.

The wind vortex surrounded the Shadow, but to their surprise the attack didn't have any effect to it.

"Our attack isn't working! Just how strong this thing is?"

"Onee-chan! How's the scan going?" Naruto called out to Setsuna.

"I'm done! That Shadow is called Divine Mage. It resists all physical attack and nulls all magic attacks, except for darkness!" reported Setsuna.

"Just great, what should we do now?" groaned Tenten.

"Leave it to me!" replied Naruto as he summoned his Persona card and slashed it. "Pale Rider! Mudoon!"

From the blue energy surrounding the blonde, another figure appeared instead of the usual Susano-o. It was a black robed skeleton wielding a scythe—not unlike a grim reaper and riding a pale colored horse. Sakura and Tenten were obviously surprised to see Naruto summoned a Persona another than Susano-o and intimidated by its appearance.

The fourth horseman of apocalypse cackled as it raised his scythe horizontally with both of his hands. A seal appeared on the ground where the Divine Mage stood and the Shadow trashed around before engulfed in black flames, killing it instantly.

"Well, that's that," Naruto sighed as he dismissed Pale Rider.

"How did you summon another Persona than your Susano-o?" Sakura asked.

"I'm a unique Persona User called Wild Card. I can summon other Personae than my main Persona," explained Naruto. "With my ability, I can adapt with various enemies in battle."

"That's pretty useful," Tenten commented.

"Why did you never tell us about that?" asked Sakura.

"You never asked about it," answered Naruto with a shrug.

"We're almost at the meadow. Just a little bit more and we will find your friend," said Setsuna and the party nodded.

They walked a bit more and they arrived at the flower meadow. There, they found Ino standing in the middle of the meadow with…another Ino? The doppelganger looked like the real one, only she has yellow eyes instead of Ino's baby blue. The whole party was definitely surprised to see this phenomenon.

"Ino-chan!" Sakura called out.

The real Ino turned around to see her best friend along with her crush and two other people she didn't recognize.

"Sakura-chan! Naruto-kun!"

"Well, well, what do we have here? The forehead freak," said the doppelganger Ino with a sneer.

"Don't you dare to call my friend like that, you imposter!" Ino hissed.

"Friend? Ha! Don't make me laugh. You never thought Sakura as a friend."

Sakura stopped in her track and looked at the two blondes confusedly. "Huh?"

"That girl with weird pink hair and huge forehead is an annoyance. She always clinging to you like a lost puppy and always cry because someone teased her. You do know how sick you were with it, don't you? You just stuck around with her just because it's fun to see other kids picking on her until you get bored and played the heroine role. And she thought you always saved her because you were her friend…how wrong she is…You just loved the attention," explained the Ino look-alike with a sinister smile.

"Don't listen to her, Sakura-chan! She's lying!" said Ino frantically.

Sakura was at lost when she heard what the doppelganger said to her.

"And then she decided to break the so called friendship to seek Sasuke's attention…You were glad with it because you finally free from that pain in the ass of a girl. But you were also angry at her because that's the way she thanked you for the whole confidence boosting issue…that ungrateful little wrench…Just who the hell does she think she is? Without you, she'll probably turn like that stuttering girl Hinata," stated the other Ino with a scowl.

"Stop it! That's not true! I never happy that Sakura broke our friendship years ago and never will! I was sad because I lost my best friend!" yelled Ino, frustration evident in her tone.

The yellow eyed doppelganger ignored her and continued on her rant. "Then that pink haired sissy came to you and apologized to you and asked to be your friend again…what a joke. Does she think you really have forgiven her? You don't, right?"

"SHUT UP! Who are you? And why did you mess with my head?"

"Don't you get it? Talk about being an airheaded blond…" muttered the doppelganger under her breath. "I am you and those things I said earlier are what you really feel toward that hussy over there. You can't escape forever from your real self," The other Ino smiled evilly at the real one. "So why don't you just accept it?"

Ino panicked at this point. "No…You can't be me…You can't be…" she took a step backward shakily. "You're not me!"

Then suddenly the other Ino laughed evilly as black and red mist started to gather around her, causing the party to raise their alert to the maximum.

"Be careful kids! I sense a large energy reaction massing on that look-alike of your friend!" warned Setsuna.

"Ahahahahahaha….! That's right! I'm not you…not anymore…With this I can finally become my own self!"

The black and red mist completely engulfed the doppelganger and the real Ino fell unconscious to the ground.

"Ino-chan!" shouted Sakura in worry.

As the black and red mist dispersed, the other Ino has changed into something else. It was a large female humanoid figure of an adult looking Ino—three times of a normal human. She had black skin that barely covered with proper clothes, only green silk ribbons wrapped around her lower arms, breasts and waist below until the mid of her thighs. Her face was covered with white opera mask. She was kneeling seductively in front of the party with her legs parted.

"I am a Shadow. The true self," the now revealed Shadow Ino spoke with distorted voice. "I'm going to wipe that forehead girl from the existence and have fun with that cute whiskered blonde with gorgeous eyes over there all by myself."

"Uh, is she just threatened Sakura and flirted with you Naruto?" wondered Tenten.

"I think so," replied Naruto uncertainly before turning to Setsuna. "Onee-chan, the scan please?"

"Why did you not paying attention to me? It can cost you, you know?" Shadow Ino giggled as she raised her right hand. "Jealousy Thunder!"

Massive bolts of electricity zapped down from the sky toward Naruto and his companions—including Setsuna causing her concentration broke. They all dodged the attack and strode forward toward the large Shadow as Naruto casted Masukukaja to Sakura and Tenten to boost their speed. Sakura then channeled her spiritual power as she prepared for an attack.

"Take this! Garu!"

The wind vortex shredded the Shadow, but the damage was not significant. Shadow Ino recovered and glaring at Sakura.

"That hurt, you bitch! I'm really sick of you!"

Shadow Ino threw her arm forward, causing the green ribbon wrapped around the limb extended and nearly cut Sakura in two if she didn't rolled aside. The Shadow unleashed another ribbon and another one, but the rosette dodged all of them with ease thanks to Naruto's buffing up spell.

"Stand still! Don't move too much so I can hit you!" Shadow Ino growled.

"What's wrong piggy? Can't hit me because you're too slow to move?" taunted Sakura.

"Die, you forehead freak!" Shadow Ino snarled and her attacks became more erratic.

Sakura smirked as she dodged the ribbons. Shadow or not, it was still Ino. She then unleashed another Garu spell toward the Shadow which homed right in causing Shadow Ino to cry in pain. Naruto and Tenten had their Persona summoned and preparing themselves for an attack.

"Susano-o! Fatal End!"

"Tomoe Gozen! Double Fangs!"

The emerald robed Persona slashed Shadow Ino on the same time as the navy and grey Persona stabbed her twice.

"Argh! Why you…! That's it! Envious Strike!"

Shadow Ino stabbed the ground with her ribbon and suddenly numerous other ribbons rose from the ground and struck at Naruto and the others. They managed to dodge some of them, but several other ribbons managed to cut them in several parts of their body.

"Are you alright?" asked Naruto with a grunt.

"Never been better," answered Tenten sarcastically.

"How are we going to beat her?" asked Sakura as she healed her cut wounds.

"I've found her weakness! She weak against ice!" informed Setsuna.

"Got it, Onee-chan!" Naruto then turned to Sakura and Tenten. "I've got a plan. Can you two distract her for a bit?"

"Sure," answered Sakura.

"Got it," answered Tenten.

"Hey, what did I told you about not paying your attention to me? Jealousy Thunder!"

Naruto and his party dodged the thunderbolts while Tenten and Sakura strode forward to Shadow Ino. The Shadow lashed out with her ribbon which the two girls swiftly dodged them. They looked at each other and nodded as they prepared for a joint attack.

"Konohana-Sakuya! Garu!"

"Tomoe-Gozen! Gale Slash!"

The Goddess of Spring waved her fans on the same time as the legendary female Samurai swung her naginata. The timing caused the wind spell to increase the power of the slash skills as the attack hit Shadow Ino.

"Graaargh! All of you were so dead! Envious Strike!"

As ribbons started to rise from the ground, it was what Naruto has been waiting for.

"Now! Black Frost! Mabufula!"

From the blue energy surge around Naruto, a new Persona appeared. It was a black skinned demon with blue cap, blue sun-like collar, blue boots and angry red eyes. The demon turned fairy back flipped and flapped his hands as several medium sized ice spikes covered the ribbons and Shadow Ino. The ice shattered causing the ribbons to shatter and Shadow Ino fell to the ground with a cry of pain.

" Now's our chance! Let's get her!" said Tenten.

"Let's get wild!" Naruto grinned.

"You're going down! Shannaro!" yelled Sakura.

Shadow Ino could only look in horror as the two ninja-in-training and a fully fledged Kunoichi charged at her with their weapon of choice ready in their hands.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Her scream was heard along with the sound of metal digging flesh, flesh beating flesh, and reinforced wood beating flesh. Seconds later, Naruto and his party members looked down on the fallen and beaten form of Shadow Ino before the Shadow dispersed into black ichors. Sakura then ran to the unconscious real Ino with Naruto and Tenten followed close by and cradled her.

"Ino-chan! Are you okay?" Sakura called out to her unconscious friend.

The pale blonde's eyes fluttered before she regained her consciousness. "…S-Sakura-chan?"

The pink haired girl then hugged her best friend and sobbed lightly. "Thank god…You're alright…"

"Sakura-chan…I…" Ino wheezed out weakly.

"It's alright, Ino-chan. She's gone and she won't bother you again," said Sakura admonishingly.

"I don't think so, Sakura-chan," replied Naruto as he looked over his shoulder.

They all turned around to see Shadow Ino in her doppelganger form standing in the place where she was defeated previously. The real Ino tensed when she saw the Shadow.

"No…you're not…"

"Accept her, Ino-chan," said Naruto, causing everyone save for Setsuna looked at her. "She is a part of you and if you reject her, she will go berserk again."

Ino looked at her own Shadow who was looking blankly back at her. She was unsure for what to do next. Seeing her best friend lost, Sakura decided to help her.

"You know Ino-chan. You aren't the only one who wasn't happy inside when we become friends ago."

"Huh?" the pale blond looked at the rosette confusedly.

"I feel overshadowed by you back then when we're kids. You're all everything that I wanted to be. So beautiful and brave. When I broke our friendship, I was actually happy because I was free from your shadow," admitted Sakura. "I realized that those feelings were always there and I didn't deny them at all. I won't hate you because you have those feelings to me because I know I was weak and very dependent of you."

"Sakura-chan…"

"I'm grateful to have you as a friend. Without you, I won't be become what I am today." Sakura then hugged Ino and the blonde girl hugged her back while crying after some moments of silence.

"Arigatou, Sakura-chan," said the blonde back at her rosette best friend with a smile while wiping off her tears.

She then stood up with Sakura helping her and walked toward her Shadow.

"You know, it was really embarrassing to let people knew about my secret feeling like that," said Ino to her Shadow who was listening to her silently. "All of those were true. I was annoyed with Sakura back then, but it's all because I was jealous to her, even until now. She had her own unique charm that made her so beautiful when she grew up. That jealousy flared up even more when she had a boy who openly crushing at her," she then glanced at Naruto who was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, and Sakura who was caught off guard but she smiled nonetheless. "I wish that I have someone like him. Sakura-chan was right, those feelings were always there and I can't keep them hidden forever. You are me and I am you, is that what you want to say?"

The Shadow smiled softly and nodded as a familiar blue energy surrounded her and her body transmogrified into a Persona. She has dark blue skin that wrapped in light blue kimono that stopped in her mid thighs with purple obi. She has bell sleeves and open toed boots that also in the same color of her kimono. She also has waist length platinum hair and green ribbon that tied in her upper arms looping on her back with both ends grasped by her hands. Her face was covered with white porcelain mask.

"Thou art I and I am thou…From the sea of thy soul, I have cometh…I am Ame-no-Uzume, the one who invites the Sun."

Ino took a good look on her Persona and smiled. Ame-no-Uzume then disappeared into particle of lights before reappearing in the blonde's hand as a Persona Card. Ino then felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Sakura smiled at her.

"Let's go home. Your father is very worried with you," she said and Ino nodded.

"But how are we going to go back to Konoha?" asked Tenten.

"I think that's not a problem," Setsuna answered as she pointed on a red and black orb similar to the one they used to enter the Alter Realm.

"Talk about being convenient," muttered Naruto.

The party then left the Alter Realm shortly after that.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

The next day…

Class 302 was like always today. The students were already on their seat waiting for their sensei. All of them, save for…

"Out of the way, piggy! Naruto-kun is going to sit with me because he is crushing on me first!"

"No you don't, forehead! You're not going to hog him all by yourself! You already spent a lot of time with him, so why don't you let me have the share?"

"Over my body, pig!"

"Forehead!"

"Blondie!"

"Pinky!"

"Flat chest!"

"Cow!"

The reason why Sakura and Ino having a verbal fight after they reconciled? Earlier today, Ino admitted to Sakura that she also has feelings toward Naruto after her rescue. She saw what happened during the fight with her Shadow via the Shadow's point of view and she also had heard what her Shadow said before the fight. She saw how strong Naruto really was and she couldn't help but fall in love with the whiskered blond. Learning from their mistake on the past, Sakura and Ino kept their friendship while also at the same time becoming rivals for the whiskered blonde's affection.

Meanwhile, Naruto with his headphones on his ears were looking at them and smiled. They maybe didn't realize it yet, but their bond was stronger than ever since the yesterday's event. He put his hands on the back of his head and closed his eyes as he waited for Iruka-sensei.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

A/N: Alright, chapter 4 the longest to the date is done. It's up late thanks to my research and the lack of review from the last chapter. I'm happy with those who put this story on their alert/favorite list, but I even more appreciate them who reviewed. Maybe I should put this into the crossover section instead. Anyway, I took my sweet time for writing this chapter cause I enjoyed it so much—as fun as writing chapter 2. From the Alter Realm concept to the battle with Shadow Ino…I enjoyed it so much. I also like to comment of the appearance of Naruto's new Personae. From all of Death Arcana Persona, I like Pale Rider next to Thanatos. I always liked the concept of death god/grim reaper and I already planned Kyuubi for being a Persona of Death Arcana. The next one is about Black Frost. I actually planned for using Jack Frost, but I scrapped that idea since Jack Frost is a lower tier Persona and I will not using the King Frost, since he is almost useless. Maybe he will appear as a demon later on, hee-ho. And about Tsukuyomi being a female Persona, I don't really see the problem since Atlus made Orpheus into a female Persona in P3P (Tsukuyomi is a god in Shinto Mythology). Please leave a Review because I need to hear your comment on this chapter, anything about it. And don't forget to vote on the poll, it is still open to you all who didn't voted yet. Until the next chapter, farewell for now.

Compendium Corner

Name: Tomoe Gozen
Arcana: Chariot
Spiritual Level: 23
Elemental Alignments: Pierce (Resist), Electricity (Weak)
Skills: Gale Slash, Double Fangs, Kill Rush, Tarukaja, Invigorate 1
Compendium Info: A famous female Samurai during the Genpei War. After the battle of Awazu, it is unclear what happened to her since many sources stated differently to one another. She could be described as a legend because so many stories of her life and the lack of the proof of her existence. It is said that she is highly skilled with naginata.

Name: Tsukuyomi
Arcana: Moon
Spiritual Level: 55
Elemental Alignments: Ice (Null), Darkness (Resist), Fire (Weak)
Skills: Bufudyne, Mabufula, Hamaon, Invigorate 2, Ice boost, Matarunda, Marakukaja, Analyze
Compendium Info: One of the three Deities that born after Izanagi's attempt to retrieve Izanami from Yomi, along with Amaterasu and Susano-o. Known as the God of the moon, he killed the goddess of food Uke-Mochi after disgusted by how her created rice field. His act made Amaterasu hates him, causing the sun and the moon to never meet in the same time.

Name: Pale Rider
Arcana: Death
Spiritual Level: 38
Elemental Alignments: Darkness (Null), Light (Weak)
Skills: Mamudo, Mudoon, Garula, Zan-ei, Counter, Survive Light
Compendium Info: One of the four horsemen of apocalypse and the last one to appear. Depicted as a scythe wielding black robed skull riding on a pale horse, he said to be the one who symbolizes death and has the power to destroy lives.

Name: Black Frost
Arcana: Fool
Spiritual Level: 42
Elemental Alignments: Ice (Null), Fire (Resist), Darkness (Resist), Light (Weak)
Skills: Agidyne, Mabufula, Mamudo, Matarukaja, Marakunda, Fire Boost, Ice Boost
Compendium Info: A demon that born after the fairy of ice Jack Frost remembered its nature as a demon. A master of ice, fire, and darkness, he is a strong demon that shouldn't be trifled with.

Name: Ame-no-Uzume
Arcana: Lovers
Spiritual Level:18
Elemental Alignments: Electricity (Resist), Ice (Weak)
Skills: Zio, Dia, Pulinpa, Marin Karin, Mazio
Compendium Info: The goddess of dawn from Shinto mythology. She is known as the one who managed to lure out Amaterasu from the cave of Amano Iwato with her provocative dance. She is later also known as the goddess of entertainment and governs many sacred dances.