Mask of the Fox

by Ryu Kotei

Naruto has been banished after bringing back Sasuke, destroying the Fourth's final wish. As a back-up, Jiraiya brings Naruto to a trusted friend to start a new life. Now, Kurama Dojima will face the ghosts of his past as well as all the strange happenings in Inaba after the arrival of Yu Narukami. Can anyone see through Kurama's mask? NarutoxRise. M for safety.

37. Chapter 36

I do not own Naruto or the Persona Series.

"Persona!" normal speak

"Persona!" demon/Shadow/Persona speak

"Persona!" thought/mind speak

Chapter 36: Confronting the Truth and Death

*Shadow World; Entrance*

The Inaba Investigation Team gathered around Rise as she searched the Shadow World for Adachi and his accomplices. "I'm not finding them," said Rise as she squinted her eyes, "This place…the fog here is getter thicker and even though it faint, I'm sensing a horrid vibe somewhere out there." Kanji looked around as he said, "Well, we got something so why not go there?" Naoto sighed as she wanted to catch those criminals, but it really wasn't that simple. "Kanji-kun," said Naoto as she placed a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, "even though we may have a lead as to where Adachi and his partners are, we may just end up chasing a large Shadow."

Closing her eyes, Rise then fused with Kanzeon as her looks drastically changed: Rise was now wearing a black and white striped dress, her skin was now snow white, her hair became a silvery black that made them look like wire, and her pigtails were now a series of floating satellite panels. Rise opened her eyes to reveal that they were now red with what looked like targeting crosses in her pupils. "Wow," said Kurama as he looked at how his girlfriend look, "that's hot." Rise/Kanzeon chuckled as she said, "Aww, thanks Foxy-kun. Now let's see if this'll work." Rize/Kanzeon raised her hands as four small little robots that looked like miniature Rises appeared before the Persona-infused teen said, "Mini-Risettes, scatter and scan the area for any signs of Adachi and his crew." With a series of beeps, the four robots dashed off in different directions to begin their search.

"What were those?" Yu asked as he was kind of curious of the little robots. "My children, the Mini-Risettes," said Rise/Kanzeon as she then saw Yosuke and Chie look at Kurama with a threatening look, "Oh no, they're just small miniature robots with powers similar to mine I created through Kanzeon's power; I'm not actually pregnant!" Yu's eyes widened as he looked at his cousin with a question on his mind. Kurama nodded and said, "Yep, we done the deed and Yosuke and Chie walked in on us while we were on the kotatsu. Remind me to throw that thing out or burn it when we get out of here." Yu turned green for a moment at the image before Kurama said, "Hey, my room needed airing out! You probably would have done the same thing with Yukiko!"

"I found them!" said Rise/Kanzeon as she returned to normal and was now holding her head, "Whoa…head rush." Kurama helped Rise by propping her with his shoulder as the girl said, "They're over in that direction." Chie looked to where Rise was pointed as Teddie then said, "Yeah, I smell it over there as well…but there's something else about that area." Chie blinked in realization as she said, "That's where that room is."

"What room?" Yosuke asked with an eyebrow raised. "You know," said Chie as she looked at Yosuke, "the room where we went to the first time we were here." Yu realized what Chie was taking about as he said, "You mean the room where Yosuke had to go really badly?" With a shocked voice, Rise asked, "Yosuke-senpai had almost peed his pants?" Kurama let out a sigh as he said, "I always sort of had a guess that Yosuke's bladder was that small with how often he forgets to go to the bathroom."

"HEY!" Yosuke angrily shouted, "DON'T GO SPREADING RUMORS ABOUT ME!" Sheesh, Kurama thought as everyone decided to drop the subject and head towards the area, I'm not the one with bladder problems or forgets to use the bathroom when there's a chance. "I wouldn't even be a bit surprised if Yosuke still occasionally wets the bed with his negligence," Fox Kurama said as remembered the few times that Yosuke was late coming to class due to having to rush towards the bathroom, "Sort of makes me think of that one British comic nerd in that one Sci-Fi film." Everyone continued to walk in preparation for a great battle ahead of them.

"Shadow World; Ominous Bedroom*

Everyone arrived to find Adachi, Kabuto, and Orochimaru waiting for them near the bed. "So you brats finally showed up," said Adachi with a crazed smirk on his face. "Alright you bastards," Kanji said threateningly, "you three have nowhere else to go!" Naoto held the teen back as she then asked, "Why are you three doing this?"

"Why?" Adachi said as a scowl then formed on his face, "It's simple; I was bored." Yosuke tightened his fists as he said, "Seriously! You were bored! You killed Saki-senpai because you were bored!" Adachi chuckled as he said, "Of course. I made one little mistake and I get thrown into the middle of freaking nowhere being a bitch for a man who is hardly there for his daughter!" Rise held Kurama's arm as she felt the Killing Intent rolling off her fiancé. "Killing that first skank was an accident," Adachi said calmly before a smirk returned to his face, "That's right, I was the one who killed Ms. Yamano and like I said, that was a complete accident. Ms. Konishi, however…I decided to throw her in since she was the skank who had found Ms. Yamano's corpse."

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Yosuke roared violently as it took a combination of Yu, Chie, and Kanji to hold him back. "Oh why are you defending those two gold-digging sluts?" Adachi asked, insulted by the actions before him, "They were going to throw themselves towards Namatame since he's not only a politician but the husband of a big enka singer; I did the world a favor!" As he still held on to Yosuke, Yu then asked, "What about Namatame and Mitsuo? What about those two?" Adachi chuckled as he said, "Where do I begin with those two? We knew that Mitsuo had killed Morooka as he confessed to the whole thing while claiming that he was the one responsible for the other kidnappings/killings. I knew that if the public believed that, then my fun would end…it was pure luck that he was thrown in my direction. As for Namatame…" Adachi let out a small, cool laugh as he then said, "He kept telling us about these 'signs' that were telling him who the next victim would be. It was thanks to luck again that someone had convinced him to do something about it." Bastard, Kurama growled as he heard Fox Kurama growling angrily in his head.

"And what of you two?" Naoto asked Kabuto and Orochimaru, "What was your involvement with this?" Orochimaru had a cool smile that sent chills down everyone's spines as he said, "It was just pure coincidence that we ran into Tohru-san and when he revealed to us who Kurama really is since he showed us Naruto-kun's special file, we decided to help him in exchange for having Adachi help us get Naruto-kun." Kurama then walked towards the front of the group as he said, "Why have your eyes on me? I thought you were obsessed with your 'Sasuke-kun' you pedophile?" The Snake Sannin chuckled as he said, "It is true I want to get my hands on the Sharingan that the Uchiha boy possesses, but through much research on the Uzumaki Clan I discovered that you, Naruto Uzumaki, would have the ultimate body as the members of the Uzumaki Clan possesses longevity and with you being the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, you are practically immortal. Once I had transferred my soul and took over, it was just as simple to implant Sasuke-kun's Sharingan eyes into your and I would not only learn all the jutsus in the world, but be able to use then however I like."

Having enough, Kanji rushed in to attack the three but missed as the trio disappeared. "Dear me," said Kabuto's voice as it echoed through the room, "such impatience…but then again, we would never let ourselves be that open." A wall soon collapsed to reveal a cave made of pieces of concrete road and police tape. "If you snot-nosed brats really want to come after us," said Adachi's voice, "then by all means…we're waiting for you." Kanji got to his feet as he said, "Cowards. If I seen then, I'm giving them a beating that even their children's grandchildren will not forget."

"Hold on Kanji," said Kurama as he stared at the entrance, "remember that we're dealing with not just a corrupt cop with a gun, but two extremely powerful ninjas; it's not going to be that easy." Everyone nodded as before steeling their nerves and walked through the cave, ready to fight whatever is thrown in their path.

*Shadow World; Magatsu Inaba*

Adachi and the two rogue ninjas stood in the area as they waited for the Inaba Investigation Team to arrive. Next to Adachi was a figure wearing a black cloak holding two long-barreled revolvers that had its face covered in bloodied bandages. "How long do you think it will take to get to the first point?" Kabuto asked with a cool tone. "Why should I care?" Adachi asked until he saw the tone in Orochimaruo's face, "But if it'll make you feel better, I'll send my friend here to take care of them." Adachi turned to face the cloaked figure and said, "Go and take care of those brats, but make sure you bring the jinchuriki boy here alive." The figure soon floated away as Adachi leaned back, confident that his friend will take care of those brats.

*Shadow World; Magatsu Mandala*

The Investigation Team were running through the confusing maze after taking out the third group of Shadow and they were still feeling the bruises from the fights. "Man," Yosuke groaned as his body was starting to feel sore, "tell me again why we aren't fusing with our Personas again?" Yu continued to look ahead as he led the team and said, "Because we need to be ready should we run into Adachi or Orochimaru and Kabuto." I know that we need to reserve our strength, Kurama thought to himself as he was really itching to give Adachi a real good thrashing for insulting Ryotaro, but we've been getting good at fighting in our fused forms.

Everyone soon entered a large area where literally no Shadows appeared. "Guys," said Rise as she clung onto Kurama in fear, "something's not right…where are the Shadows?" Everyone continued to walked, relaxed but still on guard for a surprise attack, when the sound of rattling chains echoed through the area. "Kit get ready," said Fox Kurama as he could feel a dark presence that he hasn't felt since the night he was sealed into Naruto, "I think Adachi sent us a welcome committee and we are going to have one helluva fight on our hands." Kurama was about to warn the others when a cloaked figure with two long-barreled revolvers suddenly appeared before the group.

"What the Hell is that?!" said Yosuke as he could literally feel the Killing Intent off of this figure. "That thing…" Rise said as she couldn't keep her eyes off of the figure, "that thing feels like death personified!" Kurama looked at the figure as he heard the demon fox whisper something before he fearfully said, "The Reaper…"

Letting out a screech, The Reaper drew its two guns and began attacking the team, making them scatter in hopes of avoiding getting shot. The Reaper had already proved itself to be a very powerful opponent as it took the team's strongest elemental attacks while launching its own powerful elemental attacks. "Dammit, we're getting our asses handed to us!" said Kanji as he fused into Rakuten-Tatsumi, "Now's the time to get serious!" Rokuten-Tatsumi was soon followed by Yosuke, Chie, and Teddie as they fused with their Personas. "Wow Teddie," said Yosuke/Susano-O as he looked at Teddie's new form, "I see you have a new form." Teddie was now a round white orb with giant claws and Teddie's face right in the center as the fused Teddie said, "You like? This is my new power…the power of Kamui! Now let's go wild!" The Persona-infused group charged towards The Reaper and began attacking the creature. The Reaper continued to hold out on its own while taking a few hits until it saw Rokuten-Tatsumi rush towards it. "Eat this ya ugly bastard!" Rokuten-Tatsumi roared as he held his fist back, "This is Rokuten-Tatsumi's True Man Series: Epic Bro Fist of the Gods!" When the attack connected, The Reaper was launched into the air before two silhouettes of two powerful men, a white-haired man wearing a toga and a one-eyed man wearing Viking armor, gave each other a powerful fist bump with The Reaper right in the middle as a bright flash of lightning shone when the two fists mad contact.

"Holy crap!" Fox Kurama commented as even HE felt the shockwave of that attack, "That kid just performed the ultimate fist bump…I cannot think of a better way to use a greeting like that for something so…awesome."

*Kumogakure*

A muscular man with dark skin and blonde hair wearing a white shinobi uniform was walking when he felt an odd feeling. "Somewhere out there a really cool punk," the rapped as tears slowly began to roll down his eyes, "had just done a first bump that made mine look like junk." Killer B looked up at the sky and gave it a thumbs up as he said, "Wherever you are kid, you have my utmost respect as my fellow jinchuriki!"

*Shadow World; Magatsu Mandala*

Rokuten-Tatsumi smiled to himself as he somehow felt that he had just won the respect of a really cool rapper before falling down to one knee. "How…*huff**huff*…How do ya like THAT!" said Rokuten-Tatsumi as he felt extremely winded after that attack. A flash of light shone as Kanji was now back to normal as he was using his arms to hold himself up. "Damn dude," said Yosuke/Susano-O as he stood next to the fallen Kanji, "You really put your all in that attack, didn't you?" Kanji looked up and said with a smirk, "Damn straight!" The teen then collapsed onto the ground unconscious as Naoto and Yukiko approached him.

The sound of chains alerted the team towards where the sound originated to reveal that The Reaper was still standing, but still badly injured. "No way!" Kurama roared, "How could anything survive and attach like THAT?!" Yukiko and Naoto grabbed Kanji and pulled the unconscious teen away to avoid an attack by The Reaper while the others continued to attack the powerful Shadow. "Kanji's attack did a great amount of damage to it," said Rise as her scanner showed The Reaper's hidden injuries, "even though it doesn't look like it, The Reaper is badly injured!"

Naoto watched as everyone continued to fight The Reaper and knew that she had to do something. She steeled her nerve as she saw Kurama and Inari get blasted away as Rise called out to her fiancé. "Watch Kanji-kun," said Naoto as she began to walk towards the battle field, "Let's go…Yamato-Takeru." A bright light shone as Naoto was now wearing clothing similar to an old soldier's uniform while the cape and helmet gave her an aerodynamic look. "Naoto," said Yukiko as the Persona-infused teen then began to fly towards The Reaper, "be careful."

"You better be prepared for me," said Naoto/Yamato-Takeru as she drew her sword, "because I will not go easy on you." The Reaper saw Naoto/Yamato-Takeru preparing a slash as was about to block it when the Persona-infused teen vanished from sight. "She's fast!" said Rise as she looked around to find the detective, "All of that's just pure speed!" Naoto then reappeared as multiple slash marks appeared on The Reaper's body with blood spraying from the wounds. The Reaper turned to smack Naoto/Yamato-Takeru with one of the revolvers, but the attack was blocked as the teen used her sword to block the attack. Quickly twisting the sword, Naoto/Yamato-Takeru successfully disarmed the first revolver as the gun was sent spinning into the air before she cut off the other hand that held the other revolver.

"You're finished," said Naoto/Yamato-Takeru as the sword in her hand then changed into an old flint-lock rifle while her looks changed into a bright silhouette of light in the form of Naoto. A small sphere of light appeared before the rifle's barrel and as she held The Reaper in her sights, Naoto/Yamato-Takeru said, "Megidolaon Bullet Storm." The detective pulled the trigger as many duplicates of Naoto/Yamato-Takeru surround The Reaper in a dome before beams of light were shot from the many rifle barrels. Everyone shielded their eyes as an explosion of light and a shockwave erupted where The Reaper stood.

The light faded to show The Reaper still standing, much to everyone's surprise, and the creature had somehow regenerated a hand with a revolver in its grasp. "Impossible," said Kurama as he stared in disbelief as The Reaper seemed unfazed by the attack. The Reaper stood there, aiming the revolver at Naoto/Yamato-Takeru, but then the barrel began to fall as The Reaper was slowly disintegrating into black mist. The gun vanished as The Reaper gave the Persona-infused teen that defeated it a respectful thumbs up before disrespectfully flipping Naoto/Yamato-takeru off. After The Reaper completely vanished into mist, everyone charged towards Naoto/Yamato-Takeru as she returned to her original clothed form. "You did it Naoto!" said Yosuke/Susano-O as he returned to normal along with Chie and Teddie, "You just defeated Death Personified!" Naoto smiled a bit as she said, "Yeah…guess I did."

Naoto then fell to her knees as she felt extremely winded from the attack and said, "I must of pushed myself a bit too far." Yu helped the detective to her feet and said, "You did well, Naoto; you defeated a very powerful enemy that would have been more trouble if we were separated." Naoto nodded as she then took a look as Kanji as he finally woke up. "Wha' happen?" Kanji asked as he slowly got to his feet, "Did we win?" Yu nodded before he said, "Yeah, we won…but unfortunately you and Naoto-chan's going to have to go back."

"What?!" Kanji asked in disbelief, "No, we can still fight!" Naoto sighed as she said, "I'm sorry Kanji-kun, but if we continued on like this, we would only slow the team down and who knows what could happen if we were to run into Adachi or even either one of those two with him. I'm afraid that we do have to go back." Kanji growled as he knew that Yu and Naoto were right before he said, "Alright, we'll go back, but only to the entrance of this place." Yu help Naoto get to Kanji before the two were teleported away thanks to one of the items that Yu had gotten earlier.

Now reduced by two members, the Inaba Investigation Team continued on down through the dungeon in hopes of reaching Adachi and his accomplices soon…

*Shadow World; Magatsu Inaba*

"It appears that your friend has failed in stopping them, Tohru-san" said Orochimaru as he felt The Reaper's defeat, "No matter, we now have two less problems to worry about. Kabuto!" Kabuto kneeled towards Orochimaru and asked, "What do you wish for me to do, milord?" Orochimaru looked at his apprentice and said, "It appears that Adachi's friend couldn't stand up to Naruto-kun and his friends. How about you go and take care of them this time." The Snake Sannin then pointed to the two coffins as he said, "Take these two with you as a surprise for the little fox; I'm sure he's going to love the two we had brought especially for him." Kabuto nodded as he created a few Shadow Clones to carry the coffins as he left.

"So what's the surprise you have for Kurama?" Adachi asked as he eyed the coffins. "Oh just a little surprise," Orochimaru said casually with a sinister smirk, "I had to go quite the great lengths in order to bring those two so they could meet the little gaki." Adachi chuckled as he said, "Damn you're sick. Glad I'm on your side." Orochimaru chuckled as he thought, I hope you're ready for my surprise, Naruto-kun…it will be quite the reunion for you.

*Shadow World; Magatsu Mandala*

The remaining members of the team continued to fight their way through many Shadows as they transverse through the maze. The group continued on until they reached an area similar to where they fought The Reaper. "Don't tell me we're going to be fighting something similar to The Reaper," said Yosuke until the sound of clapping hand echoed through the area. Everyone looked until they had found the origin of the sound: Kabuto standing right before them with a smug look on his face.

"Good job making it all the way here," said the shinobi with false excitement on his face, "I wouldn't have imagined that a bunch of children such as yourselves could have ever defeated something as powerful as Death Personified." Kurama walked to the front of the group and said, "Cut the crap, your traitorous bastard! Why are you here?" Kabuto chuckled as he said, "Well, to help Lord Orochimaru get what he wants, Naruto. You should have known that since we last met." Kurama smirked as he said, "You mean when I kicked your ass with the jutsu that my father, Minato Namikaze a.k.a. the Yondaime Hokage, invented?" Kabuto's face now had a stoic, yet annoyed, look as the rogue ninja said, "Laugh it up, Naruto, you won't be laughing much longer once Lord Orochimaru claims your body as his own."

"Sorry," said Kurama with a joking smirk, "but you're going to have to tell that pedophile that he'll have to find another Uzumaki because this one's already been claimed." The others in the Investigation Team couldn't help but chuckle until Kabuto began to chuckle along with them, making them stop. "Oh that is a good joke, Naruto," said Kabuto as he stopped laughing, "Now I got one for you and your friends: How do you spook a fox?" Confused, the team then saw Kabuto weave his hands into different signs as he chanted…

"Tiger-Snake-Dog-Dragon!"

*clap!*

"Summoning…" said Kabuto as a smirk was now held on his face, "Impure World Reincarnation!" Two coffins then rose from the ground on both of Kabuto's side as the team stared in shock and horror. "Dude…" said Yosuke as his pupils shrank at the sight, "Are those…coffins?" Kabuto chuckled as he said, "Good observation. What I had just performed was a forbidden jutsu created by Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, that allows one to bring back the dead to serve the one who had summoned them." Yukiko felt her stomach dropped as she remembered watching a horror film as she recognized what this type of art was called: necromancy…magic involving the dead.

"I'm actually not surprised that Orochimaru would try something like that again," said Kurama as he stared at the coffins, "So who did he bring back this time, two of those guys that my friends faced before or maybe his last two bodies?" Kabuto chuckled as held his hand on the lids of both coffins as he said, "Oh, just two familiar faces that would love to see you again, Naruto-kun." Kabuto pulled the lids off to reveal the bodies that the coffins housed as Kurama's eyes widened in pure absolute horror at the two.

"No way!" Kurama said in raspy horror, "Those two…"

Who did Kabuto bring back? I'm actually going to hold a poll on which two from Naruto's past Kabuto had just revived. The choices are the Sandaime, Jiraiya, Minato, and Kushina and you can only vote for the two you want to have fighting against the Investigation Team. don't forget to rate and review!

Ja ne!