Chapter Title: The Midnight Channel

Words: 7424

Series: Naruto, Persona

The room they were brought to was quite massive in height, the ceiling seeming to reach three stories up. In comparison to its height, it was far less wide or deep, and in fact the room wouldn't have seemed so large if not for its incredibly high ceiling. Yet, despite its size, that was far from its most defining trait.

Strangely enough, the room had rooms within the room. Rather, there were two small, glassed off areas near the front of the main room where a handful of people – who wore outfits ranging from white coats to gray jumpsuits - were either working at strange screens and displays, or discussing something or another with each other.

But, the strangest thing of them all was the center piece of the main room. At the far wall, directly opposite of the entrance, was a massive television screen spanning the entire wall. Various cables and wires were hooked up to the side, and large metal braces in the wall were holding it up.

"Whooa..." Naruto breathed, staring up in awe at the screen. As a new-found television fan, the sight of such a massive television was awe-inspiring. It was the size of a screen at a theater, except it wasn't a flat white wall like theaters were, but an honest-to-god television. "That's a huge TV! What's it for?" Naruto asked, craning his head to Aigis and Fuuka.

"It's how we'll enter the Midnight Channel." Aigis said simply. "Televisions act as a portal to the Midnight Channel. Normally, the phenomenon of the is restricted to a small town known as Inaba, and only to Persona users, but the minds at the Kirijou Company have managed to recreate it here in Tatsumi Port Island. However, it's only possible to pass through using this particular screen, but unlike in Inaba, anyone can pass through here."

"Wow." Naruto cupped his chin, thinking about it. "Does that mean we could enter stuff seen on TV through it? Like, could we enter a movie or something? Cuz that'd be super cool!"

Aigis shook her head, "No. That isn't the purpose of the Midnight Channel. However, what happens in the Midnight Channel can – at times – be seen through the television screen, meaning they are connected in a sense."

"Okay, cool."

"Hey, it's about time you guys showed up." A voice spoke to the side, the group turning to find Sanada walking over to them. He was no longer wearing his suit, but a hooded, gray sweat shirt and red sweat pants. Contrasting with the rather professional appearance he had in his suit, the sweats made him look very lax and casual. "They've got all the equipment set up and ready to go."

"Does that equipment include weaponry?" Kakashi asked, noticing Sanada's brow twitching slightly. "If there's danger to be found inside this 'Midnight Channel', I'd prefer to be armed."

"We can arrange for weapons." Aigis said, something that made Sanada grimace.

"That'll probably be a fifteen, half-hour set back..." He grumbled. "Plus, what sort of weaponry are we talking, here? Nothing too elebarote to get, I hope."

"Shouldn't be anything elaborate." Kakashi said lightly. "Bladed throwing weapons are preferred, be they kunai or shuriken."

The comment seemed to take Sanada by surprise. "Uh, well..." he scratched his head, looking lost, "we don't really have that sort of weaponry on hand... only bladed weapons we got are a few swords and rapiers. I suppose we should have a whole lot of combat knives, too, but generally all we have are firearms."

"Combat knives will do." Kakashi said, though he wasn't entirely sure if they'd be the what he was used to... it'd be better than nothing. Especially for Naruto and Sasuke, as they needed an actual weapon more than he did. He had a large repertoire of techniques to use, while they were more limited – and Naruto's Shadow Clones would be more potent with an actual weapon, too.

"You sure? You don't want a sword, at least? I mean, I'm not one to judge depending on your weapon of choice, but you've guys have never gone up against Shadows before, right? You might want something a little more than a knife."

"We've got more than knives at our disposal." Kakashi said pleasantly. "They'd just be nice as backup."

Sanada stared at him blankly for a moment, then shrugged. "Alright, sure. I'll go run and grab some, I guess..."

"Are you sure that you do not want to send someone for that?" Aigis asked, tilting her head.

"Nah, the armory is not too far. I can make the trip and back in under ten minutes." Sanada grinned, throwing a curt wave. "Be back in a bit!" And then he was out of the room.

Aigis nodded, turning to look at the three shinobi. "While Akihiko-san goes to get some equipment for you, let's get the equipment here situated." Aigis said, gesturing them to follow her. She lead them into one of the small glassed off rooms, briefly speaking to one of the occupants of the room. When she was finished, she turned to the three shinobi, gesturing to three stands where what appeared to be helmets rested. "You'll need to equip these Suppressant Helms if you are going to be entering the Midnight Channel. Due to the nature of the Midnight Channel, if you do not wear the Suppressants, you have the chance to inadvertently draw out your own Shadows, which will only hinder our progress and make things more difficult."

The three looked at the helmets in question, each one of them having a different reaction from the other in regards to their appearance.

"They look stupid." Sasuke said flatly, grimacing at their shape. They were, in a way, similar to the appearance of the eponymous 'Featherman' characters from the television the previous day, and for some reason or another that did not sit well with him in the slightest.

"They look cool!" Naruto said in a matter of protest, as he was a new-found fan of said Featherman series, and he was perfectly happy to wear them if it came to that.

"They look cumbersome." Kakashi said in the most neutral and realistic manner of the three, and they assuredly did. While he was comfortable with masks, helmets were another story entirely, and having the entire face covered by one was far from optimal in fights. It restricted peripheral vision – a major factor when it came to fights – and breathing, and prevented a lot of shinobi techniques – particularly the ones that utilized the mouth – from properly working.

"They can be cumbersome, but it's the only way to prevent inadvertent awakenings of one's Shadow. If you want to enter the Midnight Channel to help, you will have to wear it."
"If we don't, our 'Shadow' will awaken?" Kakashi asked, earning a nod from Aigis.

"What does that mean?" Sasuke asked. "For us." He clarified.

"You'll have to face your most suppressed emotions and accept them in the same way that Sakura will, and we will be forced to fight it as a Shadow." Aigis explained, "Admittedly, it isn't a guarantee that it'll be drawn out by you being there, but if under emotional stress, it's more likely to occur. Due to the nature of the Midnight Channel, emotional stress will be most likely guaranteed, making this precaution almost necessary."

"Hn..." Sasuke grimaced, crossing his arms across his chest. "Can the visor be lifted, at least?" If it couldn't, he'd lose one of his most valuable tools and dropping his efficiency in combat significantly.

"Yes. There is a small button that lifts the visor off to allow you to eat or drink. However, the Midnight Channel is often covered in a thick fog that impairs vision. The visor is made of a special alloy from one of the Midnight Channel's residents, and it penetrates through the fog. Without it, you'll be straining your eyes to see"

Though unable to hide his slightly annoyed expression, Sasuke nodded his head regardless. He was the first one to walk over, allowing Aigis to set the helmet on him and attach a small box with wires attached to the helmet onto the back of his shirt. After that was done, he stepped back, moving his head and getting used to the weight. Despite its size, it was incredibly light, and he hardly noticed the weight of it. More than that, his vision wasn't as impaired as he was expecting, and he had full peripheral vision despite the helmet's outer appearance suggesting he would not.

Really, the helmet could have been a lot worse.

When the three of them were all wearing the helmets, Aigis spoke to several of the jumpsuit wearing occupants in the room, and they moved to wheel Sakura's hospital bed towards the television screen. Naruto moved to follow them, but Aigis stopped him.

"The Midnight Channel is more likely to respond to her if she is inserted by herself." She said, and Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Aigis beat him to the punch, "Don't worry. They will be monitoring her to ensure that nothing happens that shouldn't happen. There are failsafes installed into this system to abort in the instance of a problem."

"When do we get to go in?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms, doing his best in trying not to worry.

"We'll enter once the Midnight Channel has reacted to Sakura-chan." Fuuka said, stepping into the room, having helped the others move Sakura into the television. "Which, hopefully, shouldn't be too long. If things go well, we can enter once Sanada has returned with your weaponry."

Which meant they had to wait. Naturally, Kakashi and Sasuke both were able to remain completely impassive at having to wait, but Naruto couldn't help but fidget. It grew worse and worse as the time went on, and Kakashi was ready to tell the blond to stop when Sanada entered the room in a jog. He had a dufflebag over his shoulder, and though he was breathing heavier than normal, he did not seem particularly out of breath.

"Yo," he said, slinging the dufflebag around and onto the ground, "got about two dozen of the knives. They're not exactly throwing knives, but you should be able to throw 'em if you want."

"It should be fine." Kakashi said, leaning down and opening the dufflebag. Taking one of the knives out, Kakashi noted it was much larger than a kunai was and it came with its own sheath, making it something more akin to a dagger. "Bit larger than I was expecting, but they'll do." Taking eight, he tied four of the sheaths to his belt, with the remainder being inserted into his empty kunai pouch. Nartuo and Sasuke did the same, the latter opting to tie all of them to his belt, as he no longer had a kunai pouch.

"So, things all set to go? Or do we have to wait for the Midnight Channel to react?" Sanada asked, wiping a few droplets of sweat from his brow.

"Things are all set to go." One of the men at the displays said. "A proper reaction occurred, and there appear to be no anomalies as of yet."

"Guess the question is if the girl will actually recover from this, huh?" Sanada grinned, stretching his neck. "It's been a while since I fought Shadows. Hope I haven't lost my touch."

"You appear to be in top condition." Aigis said. "I do not think you'll have lost your touch."
"It'd sure suck if I had." Sanada shrugged. "Let's go, then. I'll head in first!" He walked over to the television screen and easily stepped inside it. Excitedly, Naruto headed over and stepped through. Sasuke followed him slowly, and Kakashi couldn't quite get over the fact that a giant television screen was a method of travel.

Suppose he'd seen weirder in the past week. Into the abyss.

Traversal through the television was a very strange and surreal experience, and Kakashi found he lost his balance upon the end of the "trip". The trip wasn't something easily described. It was almost like falling, but what he could see – a spiraling white and black whirlpool, almost – gave him a strange sense of vertigo that made it feel as though he were falling upwards.

When Kakashi regained his sense of bearing, he glanced around, taken aback by what he was seeing. The world on the other side of the television was so far away from what he had been expecting that he was quite literally shocked. He couldn't quite say exactly what he had been expecting, but a gorgeous utopia was not it.

The entire range of his vision saw nothing but beautiful, gorgeous landscapes. There was a massive mountain to the left, puffy white clouds forming at its snowy peak, a stream of water flowing from its base into a river that continued onwards to the right, where it ended in a massive waterfall; beautiful forest could be seen somewhere below the large drop off point of the waterfall. Straight ahead, he could see an entire mountain range in the distance, and it was lush with colors ranging from green, red, blue, violet, white and many more.

It was quite a beautiful scene, and more than that, very peaceful. For a place supposedly filled with danger, it seemed incredibly peaceful...

But that sort of line of thinking wasn't pertinent at the moment. His eyes landed on Sanada, who was standing next to a brightly colored... creature, he'd call it. It was fairly short and squat, and had the largest pair of eyes on any creature of any size Kakashi had ever seen.

"What the hell are you?" Naruto asked the question in Kakashi's mind that he hadn't intended to voice.

"Huh?! How rude!" The creature said, it pointed a stunted thumb at its chest. "I am obviously a bear!"

"A bear? You look more like a monkey!" Naruto said, his scrunched up face easily visible through his helmet's visor.

"A monkey? Are you an idiot? It looks more like a hamster." Sasuke said with obvious annoyance, arms crossed.

"A hamster? No way! Hamsters are cute! That thing isn't cute!"

"I am a bear, and I'm very much adorable!" The thing said, sounding angry despite its incredibly high pitched voice. "And you two are making me beary angry with your comments!"

Sasuke stared at it with his mouth slightly agape. "Did you..."

"Looks like we got another assistant here." Sanada said as Aigis and Fuuka appeared next to Kakashi.

Their appearance immediately elicited a response from the 'bear'. "Ai-chan! Fuu-chan!" He said excitedly. "It's been so long since the last time I saw you two honeys!"

"Teddie." Aigis inclined her head towards the bear, tilting it slightly to the side. "What are you doing here? Aren't you living in Inaba?"

"I am!" Teddie said, tapping his nose with a grin, "But I've gotten more in tune with the Midnight Channel! I can smell when someone enters here now, even when I'm in Inaba! I noticed someone that hadn't ever been in here before, and when I arrived, this guy," Teddie thumbed towards Sanada, who remained impassive, "showed up, too!"

"I see... it's impressive that your sense of smell and attunement of the Midnight Channel has improved so significantly. I assume your ability to travel through here has also improved, judging by how quickly you came here?"

"Yuppers! It sure has!" Teddie puffed his chest out, placing his stubby hands on his 'hips'. "So! What brings you guys to the Midnight Channel? You haven't been here in a long time, and the only ones I find around here are your scientist guys!"

"We're trying to awaken someone suffering from catatonia by awakening their true self." Fuuka said, and there was a lull as Teddie processed that.

"Wait a second..." Teddie started slowly, seemingly confused. "I don't really know much about this catatonia stuff, but did you just say you're trying to awaken someone's true self?" Fuuka nodded, and the bear's eyes widened to comically large proportions. "Whaddaya mean you're trying to awaken someone's true self?! I thought Mitsu-chan said she wouldn't ever attempt to do that with the Midnight Channel! I mean, you guys realize how beary dangerous that is, right?! Things could get super hairy, super quick!"

"Some weird and special circumstances, Ted." Sanada said with a shrug. "That's why we're here – to make sure things go well, and abort the process if things get too dicey."

"But... but..." Teddie shook his head, hands clutching the sides of it. "Oooh...! This could be so bad...! It's been too long since anything like this has happened in the Midnight Channel... there's no telling what sort of dangers could be created!"

"It will be fine, Teddie." Aigis said seriously. "We'll make sure nothing terrible happens, and we'll set the Midnight Channel back to its normal state as quickly as we can."

"Oooh..." Teddie shook his head, looking up at them with a glint in his eyes. "If you guys are gonna do this, I'm coming with you! I gotta make sure my home is safe!" He gave a mock salute, straightening his back. "Officer Teddie, reporting for duty!"

Aigis nodded, smiling slightly. "Good to have you on board."

"Uh..." Naruto butted in, staring at Teddie in the oddest way possible. "Can someone tell me what the heck this guy is?"

"And don't tell us he's a bear." Sasuke added, half-glaring at the supposed bear. "Because he doesn't look anything like one."

"Hey, hey!" Teddie interrupted, glaring at the two. "I should be asking who you rude people are! You come into the Midnight Channel, my home, and you act all rude to me... you guys should show me some respect!"

"Teddie, it's okay," Fuuka started, trying to defuse the situation, "these are Hatake-san, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun. They're friends of the one we're trying to awaken with the Midnight Channel, so they're on edge..."

"And they're two kids who haven't quite learned what 'politeness' is, yet." Kakashi said pleasantly, smiling as he did. Naruto and Sasuke grumbled irritably, but didn't refute the point. "We look forward to working with you, Teddie."

"Well at least one of you has some manners!" Teddie said with a snide look to Naruto and Sasuke. "I look forward to working with you, too!"

Naruto grumbled something under his breath, easily muffled by his helmet, and Sasuke just grunted in his usual manner. "Teddie is... fairly unique." Fuuka said, directed at the pair. "He is, thus far, the only 'friendly' Shadow that we have known to exist, and one of only a handful that has been sentient."

"The Kirijou Company has done countless studies regarding his existence, but have been unable to determine why he is the way he is." Aigis said, cocking her head to the side. "All we have are theories, and none of them are conclusive."

"So, wait... he's a Shadow?" Naruto asked. "Are all shadows like him?"

"No siree!" Teddie said, puffing his chest with pride. "Teddie is completely and utterly unique, baby!"

"Good." Sasuke said flatly. Teddie, for his part, seemed completely unaware of its thinly veiled intent.

"I think that's enough of that." Sanada butted in, sounding obviously impatient. "We should move to find wherever the girl has ended up and get this over with."

"That would be a good idea." Kakashi agreed. "How do we go about finding her?"

"I know exactly where she is!" Teddie said, rubbing a finger under his nose. "I can sniff her out from anywhere!"

"That makes things easier." Fuuka said, smiling down at Teddie. "Lead the way, then, Teddie."

"You got it!" Teddie gave a sharp salute, before whirling around on one of his tiny little feet and waddling away. The rest of them followed him in silence, the Shinobi taking in their environment with slight awe. It became two-fold when said environment began to change before their eyes, shifting and morphing into something so unlike the previous utopia, but not straying so far away to become ugly, even in comparison. No, everything around them changed, slowly becoming the familiar streets of Konoha, the linear path leading them straight to none other than the gates of a very familiar place.

"Is this..." Naruto started, uncertain at what he was seeing. "Is this the academy?"

"It looks like it, albeit more..." Kakashi paused to find the word he was looking for, settling on, "floral."

Unlike the academy the three of them knew, this one was covered in hundreds upon hundreds of flowers, ranging from all sorts of species such as roses and tulips, to more exotic ones that none of them knew off hand. The most startling change, however, was the black and red spiral that encompassed its entrance.

"Why is the academy here? And why is it overrun with flowers?" Sasuke asked with clear confusion in his voice.

"Likely this Academy is an important place to Sakura-chan." Fuuka said in explanation. "It likely played a very vital role in shaping her current self, and the flowers growing here are merely a representation of certain aspects of her psyche. What those aspects are, I can't say, but they must be an important part of her."

Kakashi inclined his head towards her, his brow raising. "Then Sakura is inside?"

"Yuppers!" Teddie answered him instead. "The person and their Shadow is always at the 'core' of the 'dungeon' that's past the red and black swirly thingie. It'll be covered in all sorts of nasty, mean shadows most likely! We'll have to be beary careful!"

"Heh, hopefully they'll be a decent warmup before our real fight." Sanada said, popping his knuckles noisily, grinning fiercely at the entrance to the academy. "Let's get going."

"I'll stay here and provide support." Fuuka said, bringing her hands together. "Juno." She whispered, a soft blue glow surrounding her body. It expanded outwards, taking on the shape of a large glass bubble, a humanoid figure attached to the top of it, mimicking Fuuka's pose. Said figure's skin was stark black, with the exception of its head being pure white with red diamond motifs etched into the outer portion of its face; long blue hair reached its lower back, where a pair of wings spread outwards, the appearance akin to a peacock's feathers; it wore a red bustier with white frills, opera gloves that were likewise red with white frills.

Naruto's jaw fell open, Sasuke's eyes widened fractionally, and Kakashi's brow merely rose a fraction.

"Cooool!" Naruto crowed when he had overcome his shock. "What is that?!"

"Juno, Fuuka's Persona." Aigis responded. "It is the manifestation of a person's true self."

"That's what you were talking about?" Sasuke asked, dumbfounded. "A person's 'true self' is an actual summon?"

"In essence, yes." Aigis said, shrugging minutely.

"Does that mean Sakura-chan will get one, too?" Naruto asked, eyes wide.

"She won't if we stand around here questioning every little thing." Sanada said blandly. "It's all up to her on whether or not she'll accept her true self. If she does, she'll get a Persona. If she doesn't, she won't. Simple as that."

"Then let's not waste anymore time, shall we?" Kakashi said lightly, walking towards the spiraling black and red entrance.

"Right, now you're speaking my language." Sanada grinned, following after him with a jog.

"Be careful in there!" Fuuka said, her voice reverberating inside their heads. "There's no telling what sort of Shadows will have been created, so be on your guard!"

"We'll be careful." Aigis said, heading towards the entrance.

"Don't worry, Fuu-chan! If things get too hairy, we'll be outta there in no time!" Teddie gave a thumbs up, waddling after them. Sasuke sighed heavily, face twisting into a glowering scowl as he followed the 'bear' inside.

Naruto followed him quickly, and when he was next to Sasuke, he leaned in and asked. "What's with you?"

"Bad puns." Was Sasuke's response, and he left it at that. Naruto shrugged, and turned his head to the seemingly endless spiral of red and black, before stepping inside. Unlike the traversal through the television screen, this one was relatively quick and simple. It gave them a sense of stepping through a wall of water, rather than a upward descent.

On the other side of the spiral, however, was not the Academy's courtyard as was expected, but rather a hallway that was very much like the hallways of the Academy with one major difference. The hallway here was double the width and height of any of the actual Konoha Academy's hallways, leaving them with the strange sense of being smaller than they actually were. Beyond that, there were also a great deal of flowers lining the walls, albeit not nearly as much as the outside of the academy.

The most important aspect, however, was a familiar figure standing in the middle of the hallway with their back to them.

"S-sakura-chan!" Naruto sputtered, stepping forward only to stop when Aigis put a hand on his shoulder. He gave her a questioning look, turning back to see Sakura turning around to face them and... pulled her lower eyelids down with her middle fingers and stuck her tongue out. "What the-"

"Catch me if you can, suckers!" 'Sakura' said, her normally green eyes a glowing yellow. Spinning around, she slapped her ass tauntingly, then ran off down the hall, cackling as she did.

The actions she displayed, along with her words, left the three shinobi floored. "Was that Sakura?" Sasuke asked, flabbergasted.

"No," Fuuka's voice said, "that was her Shadow, her 'inner self'. It seems that the Midnight Channel is reacting to her properly."

"Are you saying that Sakura's 'inner self' is that juvenile?" Sasuke asked, though he did not sound particularly surprised.

"Not necessarily!" Teddie interrupted. "Most of the time, the Shadows – the Inner Self, or True Self – is just a part of a person that they don't really want to admit exists inside of them! That part – or parts – of their personality comes out as the Shadow, and are amplified to a beary high degree!"

"Yeah, the thing about Shadows is that they are a part of us, but they become so overblown it's ridiculous." Sanada said with a snort. "If they weren't so dangerous, it'd almost be funny how exaggerated their traits can become."

Naruto had grown somewhat pale after hearing all that, and by that point had earned a few looks of confusion. Nervously, with sweat dripping down his face, he asked, "Then... if... say... she can get really angry sometimes, but hides it most of the time...?"

There was a moment of a silence as they digested the question, and then when Teddie was about to answer - "SHANNARO!"

Everyone turned to look down the hallway, and the battle cry – for it could be called nothing but – was followed by a thunderous crash.

"Then the Shadow would be beary, beary scary." Teddie said after a moment, blinking rapidly. Naruto could only gulp.

Clearing his throat, Kakashi said, "We'll cross that road when we come to it. We should be looking for Sakura, be it herself, or her Shadow."

"Agreed." Aigis said, nodding her head.

They didn't dawdle any longer, and were moving down the hallway quickly. As they moved, the three shinobi quickly realized that the hallways were nothing like the Academy's hallways which had deliberate paths and obvious intent. These were almost labyrinthine in nature, twisting and turning every which way, ultimately leading to dead ends, empty rooms, or blocked off paths. There were occasional small "Shadows" in the form of small puddles of a tar-like substance that wore blue masks. Nothing particular problematic, and compared to the "Sleepers" of the last world that refused to give up, they were a cinch to defeat.

When they were running down one particular hall, Fuuka's voice reverberated in their head, "Watch out! There's a powerful Shadow up ahead!"

"Is it Sakura's?"

"No, I don't think so... it feels different than the Shadow you encountered when you first entered. Be on your guard!"

They were more careful in their progress down the hallway, and when they came to a left turn, they saw the hallway leading into a large square room, a spiral staircase smack dab in the center. At the base of the stairs was a large, formless shadow, its shape pulsing and shifting. The closer the group got to it, the more defined its shape began to become, finally taking on the shape of a large, muscular man wearing a blue mask with an XI etched into it on its forehead once they had stepped into the room proper.

"Why is it a giant muscular guy?" Naruto asked weakly, staring at the speedo wearing 'shadow' uncomfortably.

"It's a Gigas type. They're a Shadow of the Strength Aracana. They might be slow, but they're very durable and powerful! Don't give them a chance to attack!"

"Them?" Kakashi repeated, and upon saying that, he witnessed the "Gigas" splitting into three individual Shadows. "Ah, so that's what you meant..."

"Heh, let's use these guys as a warmup." Sanada said, cracking his knuckles. "I'll take the one on the right." And with that, he charged the rightmost Gigas, throwing a powerful straight, the blow managing to knock the massive Gigas off its feet and into the far wall more than twenty meters away. He followed its flight, and threw several more punches at the Gigas, not allowing it to recover, bouncing it between the wall and his fists.

In the short time he had attacked the Gigas, Aigis had engaged the other two, flames bursting out of her hips and feet and propelling her around like a rocket. She was assailing them with punches, kicks, and projectiles from her fingertips, making relatively short work of them.

"Go, Ai-chan!" Teddie yelled, his body glowing a faint blue. A card appeared in front of Teddie's face, and he swiped at it, the card shattering into pieces. "Let's go, Kamui-Moshiri!" He said, and an absolutely absurd creature appeared from the shards of the card. It was a rainbow patterned rocket with a vague face spanning its middle, and a golden crown rested right above the face; two short, stubby arms stuck out at the sides of the crown, round, golden hands that extended into long claws topping them; its legs were likewise short and stubby, having golden paws at the ends of them. A red cape patterened with white stars fluttered behind it, covering a second much larger rocket that was connected into the read end of the first.

It was, in a word, unique. Also mildly disturbing. Any thought of joining the fight flew right out of the minds of the Shinobi, leaving them utterly flabbergasted. It was only doubled when the rocket with a rocket up its butt summoned a third rocket and threw said rocket at one of the Gigas. Said rocket exploded on contact in a brilliant flash of multi-colored lights, and seemingly obliterated the Gigas it impacted with.

By the time the thought to join the battle had reoccurred to the shinobi, the battle was ended, but the flabbergasted feeling of Teddie's Persona had not.

"Good job! The path leading up is clear!"

"Tch." Sanada patted his hands down, shaking his head. "Hardly what I would call a warm up. The Shadows seem pretty weak here."

"Isn't that preferable to a difficult fight?" Kakashi asked blandly, earning a shrug from Sanada.

"I'd like at least a little bit of a challenge. The opponents I'm gonna be going up against next are gonna be a lot tougher. Need to make sure I haven't lost my edge, you know?"

"I suppose, but you don't want to wear yourself out, either."

"So I'm told, and damn often at that." Sanada grumbled, shaking his head. Walking over to the staircase, he gazed up it, narrowing his eyes as he did. "Looks like it'll be a fairly long ascent. Best if we start heading up now."

The group of six began to ascend the stairs, and began to quickly realize just how high the stairs were. They extended far beyond the ceiling of the room they were in, and there was no end to them in sight; they kept checking for the end routinely in hope they'd see some sign of an end, but there was nothing but an endless spiral of stairs.

"W-what the... the heck..." Naruto sputtered, pausing to gasp for air. "Is Sak-kura-chan afr-afraid of s-stairs?"

"More than likely it's a representation of her current mental condition." Aigis said, glancing over her shoulder at Naruto. "She's repressed her psyche, locking herself out from the world. A very tall staircase is simply showing that her real psyche is deep inside her mind, rather than on the surface."

"That's great," Sasuke said sarcastically, less winded than Naruto, but enough that he had to struggle not to show it, "but how deep are we talking here? This staircase is seemingly endless!"

"That I do not know." Aigis said, shrugging. Sasuke let out a groan, shaking his head.

"Ugh... nngh... I'm getting so beary exhausted, guys! Can't we take a break?" Teddie whined, some distance back from the rest of them. He was much slower than the rest of them were, his short legs making it difficult to be particularly fast, but he was doing surprisingly well to keep up with them considering that fact.

"It's because you're still wearing that stupid suit of yours." Sanada scoffed. "Just take it off instead of complaining."

"It's a suit?!" Naruto asked in unabashed surprise. "But... but... its face moves and stuff!"

"Well, it's a suit... for a shadow. Weird stuff is bound to happen." Sanada said, shrugging dismissively. "Just... the less you think about Teddie, the better it'll be for you. If scientists can't figure him out, the normal mind certainly won't be able to."

Naruto supposed that was logical. He was ready to stop thinking about Teddie entirely when the bear spoke. "Hohoho...! Just so you all know, I'm not wearing anything inside this suit!"

"Oh lord..." Sanada groaned, and Aigis turned her head to Teddie.

"If that's what it takes for us to keep moving, so be it." She said, flatly.

"Aww, you're such a party pooper, Ai-chan." Teddie whined.

Naruto grimaced, and went on to ignore him when he heard a loud 'ziiiiipppp' from behind. It was reflexive to look over his shoulder, and Sasuke likewise looked at the source of the sound. They saw Teddie – still running up the stairs – unzipping the head of his 'suit', his stubby little arms reaching up and popping the head off. The head and upper body poked out of the suit's lower body, the owner being a sparkling, glittering, and handsome young man with blond hair and bright blue eyes. However, true to his word, he was not wearing anything, and the two genin got a faceful of his sweaty, glistening chest.

They promptly turned away, grimacing.

"Aahhh... that feels so much better!" Teddie said, his voice sounding mildly deeper. "It's always great to run free!"

"We don't need to hear it." Sasuke snapped.

"We don't need to see it." Naruto added, shuddering.

"Too bad!" Teddie laughed, his voice sounding closer than it had. "Super Teddie, activated!" And with that said, he passed up both Naruto and Sasuke with speed he did not previously have. More to the point, instead of a buck naked man as they had been expecting, he had somehow managed to not only procure clothes, but don them in the short thirty seconds they had not been looking at him.

As Teddie passed them up, he sent them a thumbs up and a wink, saying, "Don't worry, I always carry a spare change of clothes!" And then he ran past them, catching up with Aigis and Kakashi at the front. The fact he passed them up served as a great source of ire from the two genin, and they doubled their efforts to speed up.

It was roughly ten minutes later that they managed to spot a light far above them, and another five minutes before they reached it. The very last step of the stairs landed them directly in the middle of a street. A street in Konoha, no less. Dingier and dimmer and in an obvious state of disrepair though their appearance was, it was still recognizable as Konoha nonetheless.

"Sight... for... sore... eyes..." Naruto said in between gasps for air, hunching over onto his knees. Sasuke, though he was trying to hide it, wasn't much better.

"It'd be nicer if this was actually Konoha instead of a crude representation." Kakashi said lightly, glancing around their surroundings. "Especially since I can't seem to recognize this particular street. Seems to be suffering the same problem as the Academy was."

"Whatever the case, let's find the girl." Sanada said, glancing around. "Which direction, Ted?"

Teddie sniffed the air as he had in the suit, his brow furrowing as he did. "Hmm... my nose is pointing that-a-way!" He said, pointing to the west – or west in relation to the dim sun in the sky.

"Then let's move out."

Naruto groaned a little at having to move again so quickly, but didn't complain as they began to trudge through the streets of the shadow Konoha. They moved quickly, following Teddie as he sniffed the air, leading them westward. It wasn't long until they found something; particularly, the street began to ween off from the battered and broken buildings to a more natural environment, one with tall trees, tall grass, and wild flowers of all sorts growing. And, as the building disappeared all together, they found a figure standing in the middle of the slowly disappearing road, their back turned to them.

By appearance, it was obviously Sakura – her bright pink hair was impossible to miss, against all of the green. Of course, all of them knew it wasn't the real Sakura – it was the same set up they had experienced not more than an hour ago – so they were cautious in their approach.

Once they had reached a certain point, Shadow Sakura seemed to notice their presence, as she whirled around in the blink of an eye. "You sure took your sweet time in getting here!" She said arrogantly, hands on her hips. "Late as always, Ba-ka-shi-sen-sei!"

Kakashi blinked, taken aback at being addressed directly. However, being addressed was perhaps not the best thing that could have happened to him, then.

"Time for some payback for your tardiness!" Shadow Sakura yelled, cocking her fist back. Rather than charge at him, she slammed her fist down into the ground with a cry of "CHA!". The ground erupted upwards, rolling towards them like a tidal wave, tearing the dirt asunder and forcing roots out of the ground, toppling trees in its path.

"Oh crap." Naruto whispered, just before Kakashi grabbed him around the waist, leaping out of the earth tidal wave's path. They ended up in one of the trees, and from their vantage point in its branches, they saw Aigis zooming towards them, holding onto a very annoyed Sasuke. When she landed besides Kakashi, the four saw that Sanada and Teddie hadn't moved, though in Teddie's case it seemed more out of surprise than any conscious decision to remain in the path of the quickly approaching swarm of dirt.

"Caesar!" Sanada shouted, his body emitting a soft blue glow. A tall, dark, humanoid figure appeared floating in front of him, wearing a white mantle and tunic. In its right hand was a pure white sword, and in its left was a large globe that it held tucked under its arm. The figure, Caesar, brought the sword in its right hand around to its left side, the blade humming with energy. "Ziodyne!" Sanada yelled, and the Persona swung its sword at the moving earth, electricity arcing from the blade and tearing the earth asunder. The tidal wave was brought to a premature halt, preventing any further damage being done, and Sanada launched himself straight at Shadow Sakura.

They traded blows for a brief moment, Sanada showing he was superior in just about all aspects of hand-to-hand combat. He was easily pushing her back, and when it seemed he had just about won, Shadow Sakura managed to land a sucker punch to his stomach and leap back to put distance between them.

"Boring!" Shadow Sakura lauded, wringing her hands back and forth. "I don't have time for small fries like you!" She snapped a finger, two pools of shadow forming at either side of her, finally forming into tall, red clad samurai, with the same mask the 'Gigas' wore being a part of their helmet. "Have fun! I'll be waiting for you, sensei!" With a shrill laugh, Shadow Sakura ran off into the forest with surprising speed.

Sanada shook his head, throwing himself at one of the samurai with a fierce punch. It connected, but upon contact with the shadow, it resulted in the shadow splitting in half, leaving two behind. "What the..."

"The shadows... they're... they're multiplying!" Fuuka said in alarm. "I'm not sure what's causing it, but the area you're in seems to be where all the shadow's energy is at!"

Teddie balked, eyes widening. "That's bad news bears! No telling how many shadows will come out of it! There could be thousands!"

"If there're thousands, we better get started taking these guys out." Sanada said with a grin slipping into stance. "Come on. Let's get fighting, Ted!"

"Ugh... why does this always happen to me?" Teddie groaned, sulking for a moment before he straightened and let out a cry and joined the fray.

"This must be why we haven't encountered as many shadows as would be normal." Aigis mused aloud, shaking her head. "Hatake-san, although I have reservations to suggesting this, I believe that we should go after the Shadow and let Akihiko and Teddie handle the situation here." Aigis said, turning to look at Kakashi. "She called you out directly, and these multiplying shadows are likely to serve as a means to split us up."

"Should we really play into her plan, then?" Kakashi asked uncertainly. "It seems risky to leave those two behind to fight these Shadows."

"The two of them are more than capable of dealing with the situation at hand." Aigis said, glancing down at the battle between Akihiko, Teddie and the Shadows. True to her word, they were making short work of the Shadows, despite the fact they were multiplying as quickly as they could eliminate them. "There's no telling how many Shadows will be created here, and attempting for all of us to fight them will only exhaust all of us when we could eliminate the source through the Shadow itself."

"I'll accept your judgment on the situation, then. You have more experience with these enemies than we do." Kakashi shrugged, glancing at his students. "Naruto, Sasuke, let's go find Sakura."

"I'm not sure I wanna find the Sakura that can do that..." Naruto said with a shudder, Sasuke very minutely nodding his head. "But alright..."

"Let's go." Aigis said, already leaping to another tree. When she landed, two of the samurai-shaped shadows appeared at either side of her, swinging their swords. Aigis quickly dispatched the one to her left with a few bullets, while Kakashi landed on the one to the right, knife impacting with its neck.

Several more sprung up on the branch to hinder their progress, but it became quickly apparent that they were aiming for Aigis, not any of the Shinobi. Although she began trying to avoid them so that they could move on, wherever she went, Shadows appeared. "It looks like I won't be able to get away from these Shadows..." Aigis said, glancing to Kakashi. "It looks like I won't be able to assist you and your team, Hatake-san. It seems that the Shadow of Sakura doesn't want outsiders interfering with your encounter."

"So it would seem." Kakashi sighed, grimacing slightly. "We'll move on ahead and take care of the Shadow as fast as we can. Good luck."

"To you as well." Aigis said, dashing at the Shadows. Kakashi beckoned the two genin to follow. After a moment of reluctance, they were following him, leaping through the trees at top speed.

"I'll do my best to provide the three of you support." Fuuka said. "I'll track the Shadow's location, so keep moving."

"Got it." Kakashi responded, sighing a little bit. He really hated when situations turned out exactly as his gut expected.

A/N: Apologies for being a week late. I didn't really intend to wait an entire week to post this chapter, but a combination of things I was busy with and spontaneously deciding I wanted to rewrite a lot of this chapter after re-reading it kept me from positing it on Sunday, and I figured I'd let it go the full week. May do bi-weekly postings every once in a while when I kind of lull in writing that week, dunno.

Anyways, Teddie shows up in this chapter. Bear puns outside the obvious and overused 'beary' are hard. Could only work in honey and hairy, and technically bears are fuzzy, not hairy. I also tried to work in a beehive joke regarding the constant summoning of shadows at the end, but it felt too contrived, so instead I referenced a movie that had bears in the name. I'm a failure at puns. OTZ

Shadow Sakura is, in essence, Inner Sakura. It only made sense, and Inner Sakura's existence is pretty much the only reason I went this route. Probably turned out even more over the top than Inner Sakura actually is, but that's something of a Midnight Channel staple. Funny thing is that I initially had this outlined for Sasuke to get a Midnight Channel revolving around him, but it was giving me too many issues regarding logistics. I ended up swapping it for Sakura, and I've come up with something else for Sasuke somewhere down the road.

I'm pretty bad with symbolism, but there's some in there. I guess. If you squint. Maybe.

Until next time. Ja ne.