Fox of Many Masks

by HaretaSora

Naruto's life has never been easy, from being orphaned shortly after birth to being taken in for stopping a man from sexually assaulting a woman & sued for it is clear that things haven't been easy. After being put on probation, Naruto now finds himself in a new environment hoping to wait for the year to be over so he can return home only to get swept up in things - Naruto x Harem

11. Chapter 11

Fox of Many Masks

Chapter 11

-5/16 - Monday-

'20 days left till the end of the exhibit, 18 days if I go by the calling card deadline. Last thing I want to do is run everyone to the ground by rushing' he thought with a frown as he leaned back on the bench he was relaxing on a bit after he had finished off his lunch.

His thoughts were a bit interrupted as he saw Ryuji hurrying over towards him.

"Hey, there you are!" Ryuji said as he ran up to him. "Look, I need your help with something…" he added before he quickly started to look nervous.

"Okay? What is it that you need help with?" Naruto asked, taking a sip of the soda he bought while curious about what had Ryuji this flustered.

"I found this flyer stuffed in my mailbox" he quickly said, his voice cracking a bit before holding out a flyer that seemed to be for a maid service. "It says that a cute maid will do anything for you! A maid, dude! A MAID! Who'll do ANYTHING for us! Right?...Right!?" Ryuji said, quickly going from voice cracks to intense excitement in a matter of seconds.

"So….? What do you need me to do?" Naruto asked, unsure what Ryuji was wanting from him though he had a feeling about what it might be.

"Come on, you're a guy, right? You totally know what I mean! Let's give it a try!" Ryuji said with an encouraging tone and a massive smirk on his face, clearly wanting him to try this out with him.

"Luckily, some guy on my floor just moved out so there's a vacant apartment in my complex. Even better is that the key is behind the mailbox so we can get in anytime, the landlord seriously doesn't care. The place is all set so…." he told him, leaving it open ended as if asking him to go along with it.

"H-Hey, I heard that!" another cracking voice squeaked out, Naruto raising an eyebrow as he looked over to see Mishima rushing over.

"What the hell!?" Ryuji yelled out, a sentiment Naruto shared since it was odd enough without someone butting into conversations.

"Um, can I, uh….get in on this?" Mishima asked, Naruto mentally sighing a bit as things were starting to snowball.

"You mean you're into this kinda stuff?" Ryuji asked with an excited chuckle before Mishima blushed a bit.

"I-I'm not into it! It's just for research!" Mishima tried to deny, Naruto rolling his eyes as he's heard that excuse more times than the days in a year. "I mean, what does it mean that they'll do 'anything'? And do the maids look exactly as they're advertised? We need to determine whether this company just pretends to offer housekeeping services!" he said, trying to convince them while Naruto sighed.

"Just admit you want to see the maids like Ryuji so we can move on with this" Naruto told him with a roll of his eyes, Mishima opening and closing his mouth with a blush as he tried to think up an excuse only to clear his throat and shake his head.

"I….just want to punish the bad guys! And in order to do that, I have to see it with my own eyes!" Mishima quickly said, again trying to form an excuse while Naruto just rolled his eyes again.

"Yeah, we gotta see it with our own eyes. Every little detail..." Ryuji agreed with Mishima before turning back his way. "We'll have to do this at night so let's go for it tonight, okay?" he suggested, both of their eyes on Naruto, causing him to sigh and nod.

"Fine, if you two are so gung-ho about it then I might as well join you" he said before mentally sighing. 'If anything to save whatever maid we end up getting' he thought to himself as Ryuji pumped his fist in excitement.

"So, what's the code name for this operation?" Mishima asked while Naruto had no real idea what he was talking about. "Since we'll be watching them, it should be something like…'Operation Maidwatch'!" he exclaimed, getting an excited smile from Ryuji who eagerly nodded along.

"Nice! I like that! We'll meet up in Shibuya on Central Street so come on by later tonight" Ryuji said, the bell chiming to tell them lunch was over while Naruto silently wondered what the hell he had been roped into.

The rest of school - after the oddity that was lunch - went relatively well and somewhat quickly as it ended.

"So, what's the plan?" Ann asked as she turned around in her seat, resting her arms on his desk while he hummed in thought.

"I don't want to make you guys continuously go into the Metaverse as it's exhausting and I don't want to run you guys into the ground. Let's just relax for now, we have 20 days left so no need to rush immediately" he told her, getting a smile as she stood up and stretched a bit.

"Then I'm going to go hang out with Shiho, message us if you want to join since we got interrupted last time" Ann offered with Naruto giving her a salute with a smile before she hurried off.

Not quite sure what to do he checked his messages, seemingly just in time as Maruki messaged him.

Maruki: How have you been since our last talk? Anything bothering you?

Maruki: If you've got time I'd be happy to chat with you again after school

Naruto: Sure, I'll head on over

Maruki; Thank you. That'd be quite helpful. I'll be waiting in the nurse's office

"You spending the day with Maruki?" Morgana asked as he popped out from his bag. "If so let me out, I'll find something to pass the time until you're done" he said, Naruto being careful and letting Morgana out near the stairs so he could speed off unseen and allow Naruto to head over the nurse's office.

"Please, come sit down" Maruki invited as Naruto walked in, already having tea poured for him. "You know, I've been getting a lot of students coming in ever since I arrived here. To be honest it's been kind of a relief" he admitted while Naruto nodded, it making sense given teenagers were often the closed up type.

"That whole mess with Kamoshida was the reason I was called here after all. They warned me a lot of students had been impacted so I knew there would be a lot of free-floating anxiety. But when I actually got to talk to everyone I was pleasantly surprised" Maruki said with a smile, taking a sip of his tea before chuckling a bit.

"Most of the things on everyone's minds were college entrance exams, relationship problems, and stuff like that. In other words, typical worries for high-school students. Some did open up about deeper issues but not the majority" Maruki explained, not going into detail obviously due to confidentiality but just saying as much as he could. "Some students were still struggling with the scars from the incident but at the very least I'm glad the ones who came to me have taken some steps towards recovery" Maruki said, Naruto nodding along as he was honestly glad as well.

"Kamoshida affected a lot of people in a lot of shitty ways. I'm glad some of the people affected by him are getting some help through you as I know Shiho was the target of intense actions but I can only imagine what some of the other students went through" Naruto muttered with a frown, taking a sip of his tea as he still hated thinking about everything that Shiho went through.

The only saving grace was knowing she was safe and recovering.

"I'm glad I'm able to help at all. I don't think I've done much but if I've helped even one person then that makes it all worth it" Maruki said, showing Naruto just how serious he took his job and what he was doing. "I know I'm not the most reliable guy but remember you can always talk to me too if something's bothering you. I am the counselor here after all. If nothing else, I'm good at listening" Maruki told him as Naruto nodded.

"Trust me, I know I can talk with you and will if I feel the need" Naruto assured him as he took another sip of his tea.

Personally he wouldn't consider himself the 'closed off' type but he was more the type that could handle a lot without feeling the need to talk about it for the most part.

"Having said that, it's a little awkward that I have to ask for your help but….you remember how I asked you to help me with my research?" Maruki asked, getting a nod from Naruto as he set down his tea.

"Of course, I always remember agreements I make" Naruto assured him, the smile and nod from Maruki showing he appreciated it.

"Well, I said you'd be helping with my research but don't worry. It won't be anything too difficult or intensive. I just need you to listen to what I have to say and work through some questions with me" Maruki explained as honestly that's what Naruto figured it would end up being more or less.

"I should probably start at the beginning by telling you a little about what the research is for. What I'm studying now is pain felt in the mind, or more fancifully, in the heart" he said as the idea of effecting the 'heart' made Naruto a bit curious given his dealings with 'hearts'. "Some specific examples include the pain of someone saying hurtful things to you or being separated from those you love….essentially pain defined by abstracts like trauma or stress" he further explained as Naruto nodded along, seeing what he was getting at.

"Physical pain can be thought of as something necessary. An autonomic response to injury, illness, or whatever but what about pains felt within one's heart?" he asked aloud, moreso rhetorically than actually looking for him to answer. "That pain isn't born from any tangible problem in our bodies, right? It's something strange and immaterial. If anything, I guess it goes to show there are still a lot of mysteries in our own hearts and minds" he said with a chuckle, Naruto unable to keep from chuckling a bit as well given how on the dot Maruki was about the mysteries of the heart and mind.

After all, Palaces and Shadows still confused the hell out of him.

"I want to learn more about these internal psychological pains but now is a question for you….when do you truly feel pain in your heart Uzumaki-kun?" Maruki asked, Naruto a bit surprised by the question as he leaned back in his chair with a slight frown while he thought it over.

"If I had to say one thing I guess it'd be if someone was to betray me. The thought of having my trust betrayed would hit hard given I'm a pretty trusting guy" Naruto admitted, his hand going to the left side of his chest, just a bit below his shoulder before he stopped himself and put his hand back to his side.

"I see….Yes, I can sympathize there. Sometimes, all it takes is one betrayal for intense trust to turn into intense pain" Maruki said with a somber look in his eyes. "It can be rough. It doesn't feel good to struggle with pain in your heart….but with that in mind, how about the pain of a broken heart then? After all, that kind of pain is only born because we fall in love, right? Do you have any thoughts on this kind of pain Uzumaki-kun?" he asked with a bit of a smirk, Naruto chuckling as he sat up and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Honestly, that pain doesn't seem all that bad. It feels a bit necessary, my godmother likes to say how it's a seed for new loves" Naruto told him, getting a smile from the man.

"Your godmother is quite the poet, I definitely agree. It's a wonderful sentiment and a very positive way of looking at it. It also proves and validates the love that came before it after all, a fitting answer from the both of you I suppose" Maruki said while he nodded a bit with a chuckle. "Internal emotional pain can be difficult to deal with though some say it's always coupled with other feelings. And I agree, I think that's a fair assessment though personally speaking I'd think if pain can be avoided it should be. Maybe it shouldn't exist at all" Maruki said and while Naruto knew where he was coming from he didn't quite agree with him completely.

Pain sucked, he wasn't going to deny that but at the same he felt it was a part of life - a sucky part but still a part of it.

"Wounds of the heart are much harder to detect and, in a way, they're far more complex than physical injuries. That's why I'm doing this research, to save people who are suffering from internal pain they keep holding onto and you helped me realize that purpose again. Thank you" Maruki said as he thanked him as Naruto merely shrugged with a bit of a smile.

"Well, I'm glad talking to me helped. Sometimes it just takes someone to listen to help move things along" Naruto said as Jiraiya had often done the same to him about parts of his books, minus the smut, to help things along.

"Yeah, thanks to you I can articulate my thoughts for once" Maruki said with a warm smile, Naruto smiling along as he felt a pulse in his chest to show their bond had ranked up.

"Okay, after we do your mental training I think that'll do for today" Maruki added once he realized the time.

The mental training, just like last time, was interesting. It was a bit odd but he felt there was definitely some legitimacy that could help him out in the Metaverse.

Traveling home, after meeting back up with Morgana, was smooth as always before he stopped a bit as his phone rang the moment he got out of the train station, seeing it was Maruki before he answered it.

"Oh, this is Maruki. Do you have time to talk right now?" he asked as Naruto nodded as he continued on towards home.

"Sure thing, I just got out of the train station so perfect timing" Naruto told him while he walked at a slower pace so he didn't end up standing in front of LeBlanc's front door like he tended to.

"I'm just taking a breather as I finished my last counseling session for the day and I thought I'd thank you once again for your help earlier" Maruki said as Naruto chuckled a bit.

"Well I didn't do all that but so you should be praising yourself a bit for all the good work you're doing over there" Naruto said which got a bit of a chuckle from Maruki.

"Thanks. A lot of students came by to talk today. Hopefully they got something out of it but….to be honest it's pretty tough juggling this job and my research at the same time" Maruki muttered, Naruto nodding along since he understood a bit.

"Well don't burn yourself out, it'd be damaging on both sides if you did" Naruto told him, getting a bit of a sigh - not out of exhausting but more just a calming exhale - from Maruki.

"I know and thanks again for agreeing to help me out. I might be looking to you for help more frequently from now on and it'd mean a lot if you could lend me a hand" Maruki asked as Naruto couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"Well I agreed to help so I'll do as much as I can to help you along" Naruto told him with a smile.

"Thanks, I should probably let you go though. See you later" Maruki said before he hung up just as Naruto got back to LeBlanc.

As he got inside he resisted the urge to sigh while he headed upstairs to do homework and work on his little side project until that….operation was to begin.

He wasn't too into the idea of calling a maid, mainly due to being around that stuff enough already back home when Jiraiya would bring ladies back with him only to be surprised by him being home.

For such a skilled information broker he sure did have a bad habit of not remembering when he was supposed to be home.

Of course he didn't quite mind as even from a young age he tended to 'deny' Jiraiya his perverted fun. At first it was just due to him being an innocent young kid happily chatting with the pretty ladies he brought home but as he grew up it became more deliberate.

After all, it was his house and he didn't quite like it being used for 'encounters'.

As he got a message from Mishima telling him that he and Ryuji were ready and waiting. Given he had gotten changed already while working on homework he was ready to go.

"I'm heading out to hang out with some friends, might be home a bit late so don't wait up" Naruto told Sojiro as he headed downstairs with his bag, Morgana staying in the room since this really wasn't something he could bring him along with.

Thankfully Morgana didn't mind being left at home

"Thanks for the heads up but don't stay out too late as it is a school night" Sojiro reminded him, Naruto giving him a salute as he walked out the door, showing he understood.

Once in Shibuya it didn't take long for him to find Ryuji and Mishima before Ryuji took them back to his apartment complex and the empty room they'd be doing this operation from.

"Operation Maidwatch bro!" Ryuji excitedly said once they were in the empty apartment, quickly pulling out the flier with an eager smile on his face.

"Y-Yeah! Operation Maidwatch!" Mishima nervously seconded as Ryuji looked over the flier a bit.

"If it turns out to be sketchy we can just bail. The apartment's vacant so it's not like we'll be messing with anyone's home" Ryuji told them as Naruto nodded along.

"Good idea, after all the last thing we need to do is get in trouble with someone else" Naruto said, praising Ryuji a bit which got a large smile from him with Mishima looking surprised.

"To think Sakamoto has a brain, but if that's the case then…." Mishima left hanging as Ryuji joined in with the 'then….' while they both looked his way while Naruto could only sigh as he knew where this was going….

"Seriously? You two are going to make me place the call?" Naruto asked with a flat look before the two of them nodded.

"Yep! Give 'em a call!" Ryuji declared, holding out the flier towards him as Naruto groaned and snatched it from him.

"You guys seriously can't do anything…" Naruto grumbled to himself as he dialed the number and tapped his foot as it rang.

"Thank you for calling! This is Victoria's Housekeeping!" a man said once they answered the phone.

"They answered!" Mishima said in shock, Naruto sending him a 'be quiet' look that quickly got him to shush up with Ryuji's shushing helping as well.

"I take it you're interested in our services then? Is there anyone in particular you'd like to request?" the man said with a bit of a chuckle, seemingly having heard Mishima.

"A-Anyone we want to request!? What should we do Naruto!?" Ryuji whispered out, unsure what to do before Naruto held up a hand to settle him down.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a maid but we don't really have a preference" Naruto told the man as they had no names to go off of as apparently they were supposed to go onto the agency's site and get names from there which they didn't do.

"Very well! Let's see here…." the man said as he trailed off, most likely looking over a list of available maids "We have a maid available in….20 minutes. May I ask for your address?" the man asked as Naruto recited the address that Ryuji had told him beforehand as well as the apartment number before confirming things and hanging up.

"Shit….This is really happening…." Ryuji said, eyes wide in shock as Mishima nodded along.

"A maid's 'services'...What should we have her do? I was thinking we could start with some cooking. Of course, I wouldn't mind some of the other services either….Should we hold a strategy meeting to discuss?" Mishima asked as he looked around at them only for Ryuji to frown a bit.

"They said 20 minutes, right?" he asked, getting a nod from Naruto before he groaned a bit. "I gotta use the bathroom" he muttered before he quickly walked off.

As they waited Naruto mainly worked on his little side project with the hood of his jacket up since with his red hair he didn't want to really stand out to whoever showed up. While he worked he noticed that Mishima was clearly nervous and Ryuji was still in the bathroom before finally returning a few minutes before they were supposed to show up.

"I-It's almost time…." Mishima told him with a bit of a frown. "You were in there for a while….Are you okay? Did you wash your hands?" he asked before Ryuji, who was clearly spacing out, finally reacted.

"Huh? What? Who? Me?" Ryuji asked, stuttering and clearly out of it before Mishima chuckled a bit.

"Y-You're really nervous" Mishima said nervously as Naruto chuckled and stood up while putting away his little notebook in his back pocket.

"You're also nervous Mishima so you don't have room to talk" Naruto told him, getting nervous laughter from him before it awkwardly died off.

"Hey, um….are high school students even allowed to use this type of service?" Mishima asked, Naruto knowing the answer but decided - as a bit of payback - to stay silent about it.

Sure they were technically 'allowed' to but they just couldn't request the 'adult' services.

What really surprised him was that Mishima hadn't looked that up given his 'research' excuse earlier in the day.

"Huh?" Ryuji said, clearly showing that he hadn't looked into it either.

"What do you mean 'Huh?'!? You should've researched it!" Mishima yelled as he looked around a bit frantically before looking over at the door. "What if they find out who we are!?" he asked as Ryuji took a step back.

"H-How should I know!? But why would how old you are matter when it comes to housekeeping!?" Ryuji asked, Naruto rolling his eyes as personally Ryuji's 'they'll do anything' comment showed he wasn't that naive.

Again, to save frustration, he stayed silent to just let things go as they may - hoping it'd end with things finishing faster.

"We would've been screwed if your number had shown up on their caller ID" Mishima said, that part confusing Naruto as it's not like his number would tell them his real age or anything.

Their talk was interrupted as the doorbell rang, causing both Mishima and Ryuji to quickly look towards the door.

"Good evening, I'm from the housekeeping service" a woman spoke out from behind the door.

"What!? Already!? She's five minutes early!" Mishima yelled out as he and Ryuji were still worriedly looking at the door. "What do we do!? I'm not mentally prepared!" he told them as they heard the sound of the door opening.

"Oh, the door's unlocked? Um, may I come in?" the maid they ordered asked out before Ryuji quickly turned around.

"I-I can't do this! My stomach's actin' up and my hands are all sweaty!" Ryuji whispered loudly with a look on his face that definitely showed he was freaking out. "Okay, you handle the rest and don't let her find out you're a high school student. I've got your back! Just….from way back! Like, the balcony" he quickly told him as he headed towards the glass screen door at the back of the room.

"I-I can't do this either! Uzumaki, we'll leave it to you!" Mishima quickly added on as he followed Ryuji out onto the balcony.

'A part of me felt this was how it was going to end….and yet I still went through with this….' Naruto found himself thinking with a sigh as he took off his glasses, knowing a hood plus glasses would seem a bit sketchy even if the jacket was open and he was wearing regular looking clothes.

As the maid walked in though he seriously did his best not to stare given how much cleavage the french maid outfit showed off and how….sizeable the woman's breasts were - though he instantly looked away after a mere glance. 'Those are easily a DD cup, a very large DD cup at that' he thought before he quickly shook those thoughts out of his head. 'Stupid Jiraiya and his stupid, stupid teachings about estimating. God if Tsunade knows I can still do that she'll beat me just as hard as she did Jiraiya when she learned back when I was 12….' he added with a shiver before focusing on above the shoulders but not before catching the name 'Becky' on her name tag.

The woman, in his honest opinion, was very pretty with it being enhanced a bit by her makeup but even then it was minimal, showing this was mainly all on her own. She had brown eyes and silky looking dark brown done in a pair of pigtails - not nearly Ann's length but a decent length that fit her well.

"Oh, there you are!" she said, her voice being soft, sweet, and a bit familiar - just like her face - despite not quite being able to put his finger on it. "Welcome home, Master~" she purred out with a cute little curtsey.

"I'm going to fill your tired heart full of lovely energy. Meow~!" she said, the 'meow' being a bit odd but a part of him felt that not even she liked doing it. "I'm Becky and I have the pleasure of serving you today~" she said as Naruto smiled at her.

"Nice to meet you Becky, I'm Menma" Naruto said, using an alias he had thought up long ago while she happily smiled back at him. Even if the woman seemed fine and safe he felt a bit odd giving his real name.

"Oh my, how thoughtless of me! I should explain our services to you Master! What would you like me to do today? The basics include cooking, cleaning, laundry….but there are other 'services' we provide if you desire~" Becky told him, a little sultriness to her tone when she mentioned other services despite the look in her eyes saying she wasn't comfortable.

If anything he felt she might not be the kind who does those sorts of things as, at the end of the day, the maids in these 'delivery health' type jobs had full control whether or not they did these kinds of stuffs despite still having to mention the services in subtle ways.

He only knew this kind of stuff due to Jiraiya….yet another thing that caused Tsunade to beat him up….

Jiraiya seriously never learned….

"Hmmm? You look young, Master….are you perhaps in high school?" she asked as she walked closer to him a bit, getting a chuckle from him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about this. My stupid friends pulled me along when they found your company's flier in their mailbox only to run off to the veranda nervous the second you showed up" he told her a bit quietly so the guys didn't hear as he started to rub the back of his head a bit. "I totally know you can't offer me anything like that so don't worry" he quickly assured her, getting a thankful smile as she nodded.

"Sounds like you got in a bit of a mess Master" she giggled out before he couldn't help but nod with a bit of a sigh as he definitely agreed with her. "I should probably leave though given your age, it's not illegal but it is a bit grey" she explained, Naruto totally understanding given her job and everything.

"Wh-What!? No!" Ryuji cried out in a loud whisper, making Naruto sigh a bit.

"Quiet Sakamoto!" Mishima hissed out, the two of them as subtle as a heart attack with their 'whispering'.

'They're all super nervous before she shows up but then cry out when she's leaving. Make up your mind guys...' Naruto thought with a sigh as he motioned to the screen door, showing how he wasn't lying when he said they ran off.

"People really are out there it seems" she said as she walked over to the screen, trying to peer through the blinds a bit.

"Shit! Run Mishima!" Ryuji yelled out before Naruto heard them clatter and run off.

"Mishima? Sakamoto-kun?" Becky said before turning back towards him. "And you!?" she asked, her eyes widening just as Naruto's did as - with a clearer and closer look at her face - he knew why she was so familiar.

'Becky', in the end, turned out to be Kawakami - his homeroom teacher.

"Did you request me specifically?" Becky, now revealed to be Kawakami, said as he quickly shook his head and pulled down his hood.

"No, I promise, I said no preference when I called. Ryuji was the one who found the flier and made me call" Naruto said as she sighed and turned a bit defeated, which matched the tone of her sigh.

"I'm so done….I can't believe I got caught by some of my own students…." she groaned out before Naruto quickly shook his head.

"I'm the only one who actually saw you as those two ran off and, while I may not know why you do this, I'm not one to judge as you probably have a good reason to do this kind of thing as you don't strike me as the kind who enjoys this job despite the decent act you put on" Naruto told her, looking her in the eyes as she looked up at him.

The slight smile on her face told him that he had thankfully said the right thing to cheer her up a bit.

"So you really didn't hear about this from anyone? Not someone like Ms. Chouno the English teacher, right?" Kawakami asked as she frowned a bit before he quickly shook his head.

"Promise, this is just a really poor coincidence" Naruto assured her, getting a sigh as she leaned back against the screen door and rubbed her arm a bit while looking to her side.

"She's been snooping on all the teachers ever since the incident with Kamoshida even though I was vocally against him…." she said with a sigh before looking up at him and smirking a bit. "Though, if my job had to be found out by anyone I have to say you are the best case scenario" she told him as she stood back up and looked a bit nervously to the side again.

"Look, you're right when you said I have a good reason for doing this….you see, I have a little sister. She's sick so I need this extra money to pay her medical expenses..." she told him, Naruto knowing by her eyes and refusal to look at him that this was most likely a lie….but at the same time he could tell it wasn't from a bad place.

To him it felt like she was nervous or embarrassed to admit the real reason though it was clear there was a legitimate reason she had to force herself to do this.

"Then how about I help you out? It only makes sense after everything you've done for me with how you stuck up for me and risked your neck against Kamoshida" Naruto suggested, clearly surprising her as she widened her eyes in shock and took a step back.

"S-Seriously!? I mean this would help since I'm considered over the hill for this type of job so I don't get requested that often but at the same time you're my student" she said as Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not like I'm requesting anything bad. You'll just tidy up my already pretty clean room or even just use the time I have you for to rest and recharge. And don't worry about taking a student's money as I'd much rather use it to help than waste it elsewhere" he suggested, looking her in the eyes with his genuine intentions causing her to sigh before she reached into her apron and pulled out a card which she wrote something else onto before holding it out to him after a few moments of silent contemplation.

"Fine...here's my number and the number of the service. Call from somewhere that can't show up on records and request me. It'll be five thousand yen each time you request me so keep that in mind" she told him as the look in her eyes told him she had just barely accepted the deal.

"Okay, I'll do my best to help you out as much as I can, starting now" Naruto told her with a smile as he pulled out his phone to put the number in and his wallet to put the card into before also pulling out the yen to pay her.

He did make sure to send her a quick message so she could save his number to make things easier.

"You seriously are an odd kid...but if we're doing this I need to give something back or else I'll feel like a bad adult…." she muttered as she put the yen into her apron, silently thinking things over before her eyes lit up to show she figured something out.

"How about this! I'll let you 'skip' class a few times. however , I reserve the right to change my mind if your grades drop so don't get complacent" she told him, holding out a hand with a smile as he accepted her offer with a smile of his own while the pulse in his chest told him that their bond had evolved.(*1)

"It should go without saying not to mention this to anyone" she warned him as he nodded with a serious look in his eyes.

"Trust me, I won't tell anyone about this" he assured her despite knowing he'd have to explain it to Morgana but he was a cat and he knew he wouldn't tell anyone.

"Good, now on that note I have to get going" Kawakami said as she checked her watch. "Try not to stay out too late as it is a school night" she reminded him as she left, showing that even as a maid she was definitely still his teacher.

"Don't worry, I won't stay out too late. Also I feel like I have to say this and I hope this doesn't sound weird or creepy but I don't feel you are over the hill or something for this" Naruto started as he rubbed the back of his head nervously a bit. "You….really look good in your maid outfit" he told her, feeling his cheeks heat up a bit as he was literally complimenting his homeroom teacher on how she looked in a maid outfit.

Potentially awkward was an understatement….her soft laughter though was definitely a good sign.

"Thank you for the compliment, you definitely know how to make a lady feel pretty but I'd be careful about sending those towards your teacher" Kawakami said with a smirk and a teasing little wink before she left.

Once she left it didn't take long for the guys to come back, both of them looking nervous and a bit ashamed.

"Sorry man….how'd it go? We really couldn't hear much…." Ryuji muttered, staring down at the floor the entire time as Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes.

"She couldn't do anything due to me being underage and after a bit of talking she left. Next time, if you're going to get hyped for this, try to stay hyped and not run off" Naruto told them with a chuckle though, at the same time, it was definitely for the best that they didn't stick around when she showed up.

With not much else to do he headed home and immediately collapsed onto his bed once he got there due to being tired from this whole 'Operation Maidwatch'. Though honestly, he expected this from the start.

-5/17 - Tuesday-

Thankfully, as school went on, things weren't awkward between him and Kawakami like he feared they might become after last night. A simple smile and normal greeting showing things were fine between them.

Embarrassingly enough he had to admit that he found himself glancing at Kawakami's chest….mainly due to the fact he was surprised at how utterly her regular clothes hid her….chest….

He made sure not to stare though, just take mere glances and even then he made sure not to do too much….Tsunade raised him better and his fear of getting hit attributed a whole lot as well….

Lunch, while he ate on the roof, was peaceful which was always nice given the chaos of this school. "Oh good, you're here" a newly familiar voice called out as he looked up from his seat by the desks to see not only Naoto but Makoto come out onto the roof.

"Look, if it's about me being up here I am taking care of the plants. I did it before eating" Naruto assured Makoto, getting her to wave it off to show that wasn't why she was here.

"It's okay Naruto, we didn't come up here to scold you" Makoto told him with a bit of a smirk before her face turned a bit serious.

"We came here because Kobayakawa suggested we try and get closer to you to see if you would slip up and wanted to warn you" Naoto said with an equally serious face.

"You know, you'd think after I saved Shiho and he was outed by Kamoshida he'd be more cautious and less, oh I don't know, a corrupt ass?" Naruto said with a flat look as the two of them nodded along and came over to sit down on the other side of the group of desks.

"He's gotten a little less pushy since you sent Naoto my way, which I seriously have to thank you for" Makoto said before it was his turn to wave her off.

"Seriously, don't worry about it. I just figured Naoto, given his status, would get you a lot of help until we figure a way to get you out of the shitty situation you're in with Kobayakawa somehow…." Naruto muttered with a frown, rubbing his chin a bit as he still couldn't figure out how to other than with a change of heart and right now that would be a touch too dangerous.

Ironically enough the danger came from the people he was wanting to help. Mainly due to the fact that a change in Kobayakawa's heart might make things suspicious given the man was busy investigating him.

Give it time and it might be less suspicious but for now it was a touch too risky.

"Your worry about me is honestly surprising, I mean I know Suzui-san went through the same thing but nothing says you have to stand up for me because of it" Makoto said before he rolled his eyes.

"Why is it surprising that I want to help someone in a bad situation? Just because everyone else here seems to be more worried about themselves and their own futures doesn't mean I'm the same" Naruto told her as sadly, even after the incident with Shiho and Kamoshida confessing to his crimes there were far too many people more worried about their futures rather than the victims.

Personally it was quite ass backwards but maybe his common decency made it where he didn't understand.

"Honestly I should apologize for not being able to do enough" Naruto told her, taking a sip of his soda only to pause as he noticed Makoto wiping the beginnings of some tears out of the corners of her eyes. "Oh crap, did I say something wrong?" he quickly asked, getting a smile from Naoto as he shook his head.

"I think your kindness surprised her" Naoto told him, a nod from Makoto showing that Naoto was thankfully right as the last thing he wanted was to say the wrong thing to make her feel bad given everything going on with her.

"He's right and I'm very thankful to have you and Naoto on my side" Makoto said as he smiled at her.

"Well I'm happy to help, if you ever need anything feel free to let me know and I'll do my best to help" he told her as she looked him in the eyes and silently nodded with a smile before the world turned grey for him once again.

"I am thou, thou art I….Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Priestess Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…" the same woman as always said, showing he had formed a bond with Makoto which he was thankful for as - to him - it felt like she trusted him and believed in him when he said he was here to help.

"I'll definitely keep that in mind as, to be honest, that means more than you know" Makoto said as she clenched her fists a bit once the world turned back to normal.

"You have my help as well Makoto-senpai but I have to say it's nice to see you are just as kind as I thought you were when I first saw the video of you saving Suzui" Naoto said with a smile, Naruto only able to rub the back of his head out of embarrassment at his compliment.

"Even with your apparent record I haven't seen the slightest that proves some of the early rumors" he added, getting a groan from Naruto.

"Don't even get me started on their rumors, all I can say is how Kamoshida really screwed me over" Naruto said with a roll of his eyes as he was literally screwed from the start.

"Well the school's moved on from that thankfully" Makoto said with a bit of a chuckle as she had also found the rumors to be really ridiculous.

"All it took was jumping from a window to do it" he told them with a sigh.

The rest of lunch went by fine as he learned that both of them had apparently told Kobayakawa they were going to 'get closer to him to see if they could get him to slip up'. Personally it seemed like something Kobayakawa would believe given how….simple he was.

At least this way they didn't have to be so on guard.

After that school continued on as usual, the bell ringing eliciting a sigh from him as he leaned back in his seat a bit.

"So? What's the plan today?" Ann asked as she could tell he was thinking it over a good deal more than he already had yesterday about it. "Just so you know we all are ready to go in whenever, we all recover pretty quickly so we could have even gone in yesterday" she told him before he hummed a bit and nodded.

"If you guys are ready to go then today might be best. I don't know if we are halfway through it but we need to keep going" Naruto told her, getting a massive smile as she stood up from her seat.

"Great! I'll let the others know and meet you there" Ann said with a smile, Naruto nodding along before she hurried off.

"Well? Better not keep them waiting" Morgana said as Naruto brought his bag up to his desk so that he could slip into the bag.

"Right, let's get going but I have something I need to check on first" Naruto told him as they headed off.

As he walked through school towards what he needed to check on he brought out his mini compendium to check a few things.

First, despite starting the Priestess confidant it actually seemed he had two Priestess Persona already in the form of Silky and Apsaras. Second was that his new Persona Ame-no-Uzume had a better electric skill.

This of course meant he had to remove Pixie, the first Persona he collected, from his roster.

"I'm so happy you care for me and find removing me to be hard but I will always be here" she assured him as he nodded with a smile.

'I know Pixie, you and the others are always by my side' he told her, knowing it was true as he could feel the presence of all his Persona inside him if he focused on them, not just the ones equipped.

With that little bit of side business done he could focus on the real task at hand and - just as she had told him last night - Ms. Chouno was bugging Kawakami.

"There's been a series of scandals on campus and we're all being called into question" he heard Ms. Chouno tell Kawakami as he got closer to them. "I know you were very vocal against Kamoshida beforehand but still, for some reason you leave work earlier than anyone and you barely make it to faculty meetings! Explain yourself! Don't tell me you're out running around at night!?" she said before noticing he was walking over to them.

"The school's closing soon Mr. Uzumaki. Head on home before it gets too late" she told him before he nodded but frowned a bit.

"Well I kind of needed to talk with Ms. Kawakami and I feel like I'm a bit to blame for your anger towards her" Naruto said, confusing both her and Kawakami. "You see, I've been kind of pestering her a lot" he told them as he looked over to Kawakami and subtly told her to go along with it.

"I'm very much an auditory learner and she's the one I've found who explains things the best so she has to look through my notes and help explain the things I don't quite understand fully….it sadly takes a lot of time" he explained to the both of them before Kawakami quickly nodded along.

"Yes! His questions are somewhat complicated so I take time at night to help him as when he came here the Principal put him under my care more so due to his past plus, as his homeroom teacher, it's my job from the start" she played along while Ms. Chouno looked from one of them to the other.

"So you're giving individual lessons outside of school hours? That is so passionate as a teacher! You truly are an ideal teacher to help your troubled student out this much!" Ms. Chouno gushed with a smile, showing she believed their lie. "A passionate teacher is exactly what we need at this school. I should have trusted your behavior was in good intentions from the start but I hope you forgive me for being a bit worried given everything" she added, apologizing before Kawakami waved her off with a smile.

"Don't worry about it, honestly" Kawakami said before Ms. Chouno smiled thankfully and walked off.

"And with that, I feel you'll have a good deal less stress than before….well, at least a bit hopefully" Naruto told her with a smile, getting a chuckle from her as she shook her head in a bit of disbelief.

"You definitely helped me there, thanks" Kawakami said, relief clear in her eyes as she smiled a bit. "If I wasn't confident in our agreement I definitely am now so feel free to call me if you need me" she reminded him, getting a nod before she walked off clearly a good deal less worried than before.

"And now we can head off" Naruto told Morgana as he started to head his way out of school.

"That was really nice of you to help her like that" Morgana told him from within the bag while Naruto just shrugged.

"She said she was being bothered so I wanted to help if I could. I'm just glad I was able to help and not somehow mess things up like that as if Ms. Chouno wasn't trying to convince herself she might have felt the whole 'late night sessions' to be even more suspicious" he told him with a sigh as that easily could have backfired.

From there it was a simple train ride to the hideout, everyone waiting for him as he arrived.

"Sorry it took a bit, got caught up helping someone at school" Naruto told them, getting smiles from others as they noticed he had arrived.

"Don't worry about it, we knew you were coming" Shiho said as Naruto nodded and looked around at the others.

"Everyone ready to go right into the Palace?" he asked, getting an excited fist pump from Ryuji.

"Hell yeah I am! I'm ready to let loose!" Ryuji said with a massive smirk on his face that showed just how raring to go he was.

"Then let's get to it" Naruto said, setting them off on a path to the atelier and into the Palace connected to it.

-Madarame's Palace-

Naruto, as they arrived, found the 'fast travel' from outside the Palace to the safe room to be quite disorienting for this Palace as it 'happened' when they hopped over the wall which in all accounts shouldn't make any sense.

But then again nothing in Palaces or the Metaverse made any sort of traditional sense.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that" Ann said, shaking her head to shake off the disorientation while he chuckled and nodded as he opened the doors to the Safe Room.

"Trust me, neither do I" Naruto told her before they headed out towards the peacock looking door, thankful to see that it was still open.

"Sweet! The security's still down!" Ryuji said as Ann sighed.

"Yeah, thanks to all my hard work" Ann muttered, getting a pat on the back from Naruto and Shiho.

"Yes and we thank you for it as we wouldn't have been able to continue on if you hadn't done all of that for us" Naruto told her which got her to smile before they continued on.

Once past the door they were on guard, this being further than any of them had been before.

"What is with Palace rulers and having massive statues of themselves?" Shiho asked as they walked up to a massive golden statue of Madarame.

"Their ego shapes it. I mean, in a massive gaudy museum you think they wouldn't have extravagant statues of themselves in here?" Naruto asked, getting nods from her and the others as they walked up to it and looked at the plaque in front of the statue.

"'Here we praise our most holy lord Ichiryusai Madarame, the one ray of hope in this deprived world. He stands alone as his two adept hands paint into the future. None shall ever match his excellence'" Naruto read out only to groan and roll his eyes by the end of it.

"Wow, he's really puffin' his chest out here, ain't he?" Ryuji said with a scoff as he glared up at the statue.

"Just as I said before, his ego is making it like this. They are so full of themselves that there has to be a few things like this to sing them praise like they are some sort of god" Naruto reiterated with a sigh before taking a step back. "Let's just keep going, I don't want to read or hear anymore praise for this asshole" he told them, the others nodding as they definitely agreed.

As they continued on Naruto smiled the second he noticed a familiar looking pamphlet stand and headed over to it. "Seems like we have the second half of things which means….yup, the Treasure should be around here" Naruto pointed out, showing them an area in the deepest parts of the museum.

"That seems like the best bet but we still have to traverse through a couple sections to get there" Morgana pointed out, all of them knowing they still had a good bit to go as they started off again.

As they headed on the shutters of the large room in front of them caused them to head to the right through a side entrance into the room. Once in they found there were a ton of infrared lasers blocking their way, almost creating a path they had to walk through and occasionally slide under a gap in the lasers.

They only had to deal with one Shadow as they made their way through the room with lasers, it consisted of two creatures with bodies that looked like plucked birds and onion heads. They were easy to the point where after killing one and nearly killing the other it begged Naruto to join him.

He accepted if not to collect it, it being an Onmoraki of the Moon arcana with a curse skill. He quickly removed it though as he had Arséne for that element.

Once through the other side the only path was towards the right down a long room full of couches which, at the end, they could see a strong looking Shadow blocking their path.

"Seems like we're going to have to fight to keep going. Everyone ready?" Naruto asked, getting nods from everyone before they headed its way.

"Hm!? Who are you!? How did you get in here!?" the Shadow asked as Naruto sighed.

"We're thieves, we infiltrate and sneak in now let's get this over with" Naruto told it before it growled out and transformed into a blue skinned human looking creature with wings and a conch shell in its hands as two Koppa Tengu floated beside it.

"Jack Frost! Mabufu!" Naruto yelled out, wasting no time as he summoned Jack Frost to blast all three of them, knocking down two two Tengu and freezing the center Shadow.

"You're up Spartan! Shatter that ice!" Naruto said as he passed the baton to Shiho, the sword of her Persona instantly started to glow orange.

"Got it! Chilonis, Giant Slice!" Shiho yelled out as her Persona striked, slashing the Shadow and knocking it down from the force of being frozen and then 'shattered'.

The All-Out Attack that followed was easily able to take out the two Koppa Tengu.

Nothing seemed to be its weakness as everyone tried out their element on the blue skinned Shadow with wind being something it reflected back at Morgana.

Thankfully it didn't seem to attack them, instead just summoning another Koppa Tengu beside it.

"If we use certain skills we should be able knock it down even if it doesn't have a weakness" Naruto told them as he had an idea, smirking as he brought out Arséne. "Arséne! Let's put on a show! Phantom Show!" Naruto yelled out, Arséne laughing as the red cloth appeared above them before it was quickly pulled away to put the Shadows to sleep.

"Now hit it hard and knock it down again!" Naruto told Shiho as she once again used Giant Slice on the blue skinned Shadow, knocking it down and passing the baton back to him so he could use Jack Frost to knock down the Koppa Tengu.

The All-Out Attack that followed thankfully was enough to take out the Shadows.

The fight was rather intense, him being glad it was over before he felt a pulse inside him and two blue lights appeared in front of him which meant he had grown stronger and was gaining access to new Persona.

The first was a knight in full armor, sword drawn in hand with red wings behind him with the second being a very long floating white dog with the head of a black doberman that had a red circle on the top of its head.

"We are your new Persona, I am Archangel of the Justice Arcana and this is Inugami of the Hanged Man Arcana. May you find use in our power in whatever form you wish" the winged knight, now revealed to be an Archangel, introduced before the two new Persona merged into him.

"Sweet! Now let's turn that shit off already!" Ryuji said, getting his attention back on the real world before they headed inside the security booth that the Shadow had been guarding only for them to get an error message on the computer that was inside.

"Please input the password" it spoke out, getting a sigh from Naruto.

"Stupid passwords!" Naruto groaned out before Morgana nodded along.

"We'll just have to look for someone else who might know it" Morgana said as Naruto sighed.

"Thankfully the Shadows seem to love to talk in the open so let's look around and see who we can listen in on" Naruto said as they left the security booth and back down the long room with a bunch of couches only to hide at the wall as, through the shutters, they could see two Shadows standing on the other side.

"I hear the intruders already got past the central garden security..." the first weaker looking shadow said before the stronger looking one nodded.

"Yeah, I just got a call earlier to change the password here too" the second stronger one said with a sigh.

"What to? It better not be simple like 'hello' like in the first password in the front of house was" the first one said with the latter shaking his head.

"I was having some trouble coming up with a good one so, for now, I set it to the numbers at Lord Madarame's feet" the second Shadow said, confusing the first as well as the rest of them.

"Lord Madarame's feet? What are you talking about?" they asked only for the second one to shake his head again.

"Let's get back on duty. There's a chance the intruders might be nearby" they said, showing that for once the Shadows were actually thinking.

"Madarame's feet? The hell is that supposed to mean?" Ryuji asked as Ann hummed in thought.

"Maybe his shoe size?" Ann suggested before Shiho shook her head.

"His shoe size wouldn't be a four digit code though so I don't think that's it. Plus they said 'at' not 'for' so maybe that's a hint?" Shiho said, not quite confident in her suggestion before Naruto hummed in thought a bit.

"Anyone remember what was written in front of the statue we passed on the way here?" Naruto asked, getting them to look at him a bit confused until Morgana nodded.

"'Here we praise our most holy lord Ichiryusai Madarame, the one ray of hope in this deprived world. He stands alone as his two adept hands paint into the future. None shall ever match his excellence'" Morgana recited, surprising them that he was able to remember while Naruto thought it over.

"One, alone, two, and none. Those are the only words in that spiel that could relate to numbers….wanna try that out?" Naruto asked them since he wasn't even sure if that was what they meant but given it was the only thing remotely 'at the feet' of Madarame.

"That could work as that placard was at feet level for the statue" Shiho said with a smile, the others nodding along since it was the only guess they had to go off of.

Heading back, deciding to trust his guess, he entered in the code while silently hoping he was right.

"Password accepted…disengaging security protocol…" the computer announced as they were able to hear what sounded like shutters rising up outside the booth.

"Whoa….I think that opened all sorts of stuff" Ryuji said as he somewhat peered outside the booth to see what might have happened.

"We'll definitely be able to go to more places now! Come on, let's get moving!" Morgana told them before they left the booth to see the shutters that were next to it had been raised.

As they headed through the now opened archway Naruto frowned as he walked up to a large painting, a bit suspicious of it due to the fact that it was rippling.

But then again with moving wallpaper it might not be too odd.

"What a giant painting…" Ann muttered in awe at how massive it was.

"It looks a bit weird though, like water or something, as if you could just slip inside it" Shiho said, gingerly reaching out towards it only to yell and jump back.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Naruto asked before she quickly nodded and looked over to him.

"M-My hand, it actually entered the painting!" Shiho yelled out, still shocked that she actually slipped into it a bit.

"So we can go inside of it?" Morgana asked while Naruto looked around the room a bit.

"Given there is no other way to go since all the other doors we've passed were blocked or locked I think this is our only option" Naruto told them as he braced himself before jumping into the painting with the others following along behind him.

"How dare you trample my tranquil bamboo garden with those grimy feet! You shall not leave alive!" they heard Madarame's voice yell out at them the second they got inside the painting.

"What was that!?" Ryuji yelled out in shock before Morgana sighed.

"We're probably just hearing Madarame's thoughts. There's no need to panic" Morgana assured them while, with no other path, Naruto started down the path only to apparently shift into another painting once he walked out of frame.

"Oh...we're in another painting" Ann said, a bit surprised by the sudden change as she looked around a bit.

"Maybe large paintings like these all on the same wall are connected?" Naruto suggested as Ryuji looked around confused.

"But how the hell are we going to be able to tell which one leads where?" he asked out while Morgana also looked around.

"I don't know, we can only really find out by continuing on" Morgana said before Shiho looked over at him.

"What about you Joker? You think you can spot the connections? I mean, you are really good at seeing things differently than we do" Shiho asked as Naruto nodded as he was already looking around with his 'Third Eye' skill.

"Just follow me and I'll do my best to guide you guys through here" he told them as he hopped across a gap in the path and found the way out of the painting and onto a nearby ledge.

"Careful, it doesn't seem like there's much room and there's a vent ahead so be careful" Naruto pointed out to the rest as he made his way over and into the vent. "There's a large drop so watch out" he warned as he dropped out the other end with Morgana and Ryuji behind him, them all looking away as Shiho and Ann dropped out from the vent.

Once through the door to their right they quickly noticed that not only was there a safe room immediately to their left but there was also a strong looking shadow roaming around in the small room.

Without even needing to say anything they all quickly rushed into the safe room to avoid detection.

"When we leave we'll have to be careful about the Shadow but for now let's take a breather" Naruto suggested with a sigh as he walked over and fell back onto the couch in the back of the room.

Everyone seemed to agree, settling down in the safe room to catch their breaths a bit. None of them were actually all that tired given they had just started but a bit of relaxation would help ensure they could continue on.

Naruto took this time to look over the two new Persona he got, sadly both not quite being what he needed right now but could potentially be useful for fusions.

"You ready to go Joker?" Morgana asked, getting him to look up from the compendium to see that everyone was pretty much ready to go.

"Yeah, was just waiting on you guys" Naruto said as he closed and put away the compendium before getting up from the couch.

Once out of the safe room they were quick to get into cover to avoid the shadow in the room. Thankfully there were enough places to take cover behind to allow them to stay hidden all the way to the door that led to the next area.

"More big paintings just like the ones we saw before…." Ryuji muttered a bit with a frown once they made their way into the main area of the room.

"Something seems a bit off about these though" Shiho said as she stepped back away from the railing a bit as they had entered on the top floor of this two story room. "I mean, two frames don't even have any paintings in them and none of the paintings look alike so will we even be able to travel from one to another?" she asked before Ann shrugged her shoulders.

"We'll just have to take a closer look and find out" Ann suggested as Naruto nodded and headed towards the left like the sign suggested - especially since the door to their right was locked.

They continued on, opening the door and walking up a stack of wood so that they could hop over the railing and down to the scaffolding in front of the desert painting.

"This'll be like last time, right? Y'know, with the secret passage inside and everything?" Ryuji asked as Naruto just gave an unsure shrug of his shoulders.

"We'll just have to go in and see" Naruto told them before hopping into it with the others right behind.

"Alas, this world is a desert filled with laymen who cannot understand true beauty!" Madarame's voice said, his thoughts once again being announced once they entered the painting. "The slow drain of my skill is inevitable when I am surrounded by such mediocrity" he continued before Naruto scoffed.

"What skill? All I see are stolen paintings from his students" Naruto said with a roll of his eyes.

"I agree with you there for sure, the bastard never had any real talent to begin with! And he's seriously going to blame the world for his declinin' skill?" Ryuji said while the others nodded and Naruto motioned for them to follow him as he kept walking forward, allowing them to shift into the next painting.

This painting seemed to be a scene in front of Mt. Fuji with a red torii gate the only structure around while fog that looked like clouds rolled on past infinitely underneath them, completely obscuring the ground.

"People gather under shrine gates, offer their money, and return home fully satisfied. Art is practically the same. In the end, it's all just a matter of imagination!" Madarame's thoughts once again declared, showing his true thoughts to them.

"Even if that is true that doesn't give you the right to be deceiving people by claiming the work of your students as your own!" Ann yelled out as Naruto noticed two paths he could take.

One path was straight ahead and the other was through the torii gate. For now, he headed on straight ahead first….only to end up back in the camel painting.

"Okay, that wasn't the right way but thankfully there were two paths back there so now I know which way to go" Naruto told them, heading back over to the torii gate painting and this time heading straight through it.

This time they found themselves in some forest cave of sorts with a stone pillar jutting up in the middle of the painting.

"Hard work is not what makes a sapling grow thick with green leaves. Too many young people do not see the true value in your youth these days. What fools…" Madarame's thoughts said with a scoff. "Is it truly wrong for an expert such as myself to capitalize on that youth before it wastes away?" he asked which got a frown from Shiho.

"He's basically saying he's jealous of young talent. Seriously, what a bitter jealous old man" Shiho said as Naruto nodded.

"He definitely is a scared old man of being left behind" Naruto agreed while he once again used his 'Third Eye' to look around only to notice something outside of the painting that he thought looked like a button.

Hopping out of the painting his guess seemed to be right, causing him to press the button which in turn made one of the blank paintings 'turn on' as if it was a tv screen.

"Look! Another painting showed up!" Ryuji yelled out as Shiho looked from the painting to the button with a hum.

"So passing through one hidden route leads to another route being created, basically it's a big puzzle to get to the next door" Shiho said with a sigh as Naruto patted her on the back.

"Don't worry, while it's annoying we can solve this" Naruto assured her, getting a smile and nod from her before they headed back into the forest painting.

From there Naruto climbed up on a ledge beside the pillar before he pulled up onto the pillar and continued walking on. This sent him back to the desert but annoyingly he wasn't sure if it was because the path it normally led to wasn't available or what.

From there he again went to the torii gates but, due to a new painting was open, he continued on to the other side to arrive on a boat with waves moving around and an octopus reaching out from the other side of the boat.

"Could a ship skirt across the ocean if its crew had to constantly worry about what sea life may lie below? Art, life, water…They are identical. The one who ascends to the summit is the victor!" Madarame boasted off as Naruto scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

"Using pretty big words but basically the asshole is just saying that people are stepping stones to him to use, just like the kids and past students he crushed for his 'art'" Naruto growled out as he stepped forward to the middle of the boat.

He knew going to the octopus was a bad idea but he noticed he could hop off the boat from the middle of it and down to another scaffolding. Given he didn't want to get attacked by an octopus he leapt off and noticed another button nearby.

"Well, that makes for the last painting so we should be able to get to the door out of the room now" Ann said with a smile as now they could finally finish all this painting hopping.

"Now we just have to find the way to the new painting" Naruto told them as he walked over and hopped down back onto the scaffolding for the desert painting.

'Maybe the pillar will go somewhere now?' he wondered a bit to himself as he hopped back into the desert painting to the torii and then back to the forest.

This time though, as he continued on from the top of the pillar, they found themselves in the new painting. This one seemed to be a large room with a tatami mat flooring and an autumn forest outside at sunset.

"Beauty is merely a mirage…Transforming that into money is what brings about true happiness. My fine mansion, my lifestyle among the chosen few...Those things are the true 'art'!" Madarame declared, showing just how vain he was and how everything he showed to the public was a complete and utter act.

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest with how he is. The sooner we take this asshole down the better" Naruto told them, everyone utterly in agreement as they followed him across the painting before he hopped out, revealing they were finally at the end of this annoying puzzle.

As they went through the door they decided to stick to cover, moving from one spot to another to avoid the few shadows that were in their path.

The only time they had to fight was due to there being a straight stretch of area with no cover. Thankfully it was a singular Ame-no-Uzume that they were able to finish off easily before it could even attack them.

The path from there involved them dropping down to a floor below them so they could make it to the door to the next area.

Immediately they could tell the next area was going to be flashy as they were able to see just how gold and bright the room ahead of them was from within the narrow hallway leading to it.

Though, even with a bit of warning, they still found themselves blinded by just how bright the room was as well as the amount of gold throughout it. Plus the room itself was beyond warped and weird, reminding Naruto of an M.C. Escher painting

"There's so much gold! It's hurting my eyes" Ann groaned out as she tried to shield her eyes a bit from the bright eyesore that was this entire area.

"The distortion is especially bad here. It's barely holding up and it's not even on our map…" Morgana told them before Naruto looked around a bit with a frown.

"We'll just have to wing it then, not much else we can do" Naruto said, the others nodding along as that was all they could do before he started off towards their right and hopped down.

The path was mainly straight with another drop down before they had to pull themselves up again and quickly deal with a Shadow that turned out just to be four Koppa Tengu.

As they continued on though they ended up at a deadend….or that's what they would have thought if not for the wall curling away at the bottom.

A quick rip away revealed the wall to be paper and showed them the path onwards.

"Seems we have to be on the lookout for fake walls" Shiho said with a sigh before they carried on through the incredibly tall glowing blue doorway only to become disoriented as they suddenly appeared elsewhere that shouldn't be connected.

"Whoa! Did we just warp!?" Ryuji asked as he looked around, confused as the doorway they came through literally wasn't connected to anything as it was just connected to a lone stone pillar.

"Seems the distortions are even connected to the doorways. We'll just have to take it slowly with each time we head through" Naruto told them as they headed down the flight of stairs and to the next blue doorway.

Heading through it they once again found themselves at a new location, heading down the stairs and noticing two paintings on each side of them.

"Why is this painting here?" Ann asked as she looked from one of the paintings to another.

"Given the contents of that locked room it doesn't surprise me that there are versions of it inside here though there are probably a few 'correct' versions in here" Morgana told her, getting her to look at him confused.

"You say 'correct' but aren't they all counterfeit?" Ann asked as Shiho shrugged her shoulders a bit.

"Maybe the 'real' one is in here too given the real one was in that room as well" Shiho pointed out as Naruto walked over to the two paintings.

"If I had to say I think this one is the one that looks the most 'real'" Naruto said, as he stood in front of one of the paintings as the other was obviously a really bad attempt to copy it, her shirt being blue instead of red.

He was a bit shocked as the painting turned into a golden ball of light and flew past them towards the blue doorway behind them, flying into it which in turn changed it to gold.

"What the!? It flew away!" Ryuji yelled out in shock as he didn't expect that in the slightest.

"Well, let's go check it out" Naruto told them as they climbed up to the golden doorway and walked through it, ready for anything.

The sudden change brought them to a ledge with two more Sayuri paintings beside them and two more further on with a blue doorway a bit further on.

"Oh, isn't this somewhere new!?" Ann asked as Naruto rubbed his chin a bit.

"Maybe finding the real one among the ones on display will help allow us to move through this distorted mess" Naruto suggested as he started looking around at the paintings.

This set of four was easy to figure out as well, only one painting having the tree branch behind her which the others lacked.

"This one's the real one, it's got to be" Naruto told them before, just like before, they watched as the painting turned to golden light and turned the blue doorway gold.

"Seems like you got it right again" Shiho said with a smile while Naruto nodded with a bit of a frown.

"Yeah but it'll probably get more tricky the further we go on so we have to be careful before picking" Naruto explained, getting nods from them all as they made their way through the doorway.

This time he could see a set of four paintings in the distance with another set of four even further on as there was a singular one immediately to their right.

"Wow….that's a lot of paintings" Ryuji said with an impressed whistle, getting a sigh from Naruto.

"Okay, let's look at each one before picking any of them. We might not be art masters but we should be able to notice things if we take the time" Naruto told them before, picture by picture, they looked over each and every one.

In the end they were all fake, Sayuri either a blue shirt or missing the tree branch behind her. Some even were a bit trickier as they only had a small detail wrong about her like her hair being behind her and not over her shoulder.

It wasn't until they noticed another fake wall, promptly ripping it down, that they were able to find one with all the correct parts hidden behind it.

"Okay, I'm very certain that this one is 'real' one" Naruto said as they watched as the golden light flew off again, this time going straight down which confused them.

"What? Where did it fly off to!?" Ryuji asked as he peered over the edge a bit trying to spot it.

"We'll just have to head through the blue door and see where it takes us" Naruto suggested as they headed over and through the blue door, which took them back to the start of this distorted room.

"Argh! Goddammit! What the hell is goin' on here!?" Ryuji yelled in frustration before Ann smacked him upside the head.

"No need to freak out like that Skull" Ann scolded him with a flat look, getting some grumbles from him as she looked around. "We've been all over this place and found all the 'real' Sayuri paintings so let's look around and see if the light affected anything down here" she suggested as Naruto nodded, agreeing with her as he quickly noticed the doorway over to their side was gold.

"Found the change, come on guys" Naruto told them, getting them to follow him as he walked down the set of stairs to get down to the golden doorway before quickly heading in.

"Yes! This is somewhere new, isn't it!?" Shiho asked with a smile, looking around and hoping they were closer to the end of this mess of an area before Naruto nodded.

"I think so but we have to be careful the deeper we get in, don't let down your guard until we get out of here" Naruto reminded her, getting a nod from her and everyone else as they continued on.

Thankfully it seemed they were at the end of the area as, once down the stairs, they entered a normal looking room that led to a normal looking door rather than the glowing blue and gold doorways.

Once through the door it was obvious they were finally done with that area, the first sight they could see once back inside a normal building was Madarame standing in front of a bunch of red infrared lasers with the same formless blob Kamoshida's Treasure had looked like before they had sent the calling card.

"Be careful, Madarame is right there" Naruto warned them as they could see the 'shogun' Palace Ruler standing inside the infrared laser 'cage' that protected the Treasure behind him.

"The Treasure is behind him, isn't it?" Ann asked as Naruto nodded, all of them squinting their eyes a bit to try and get a clearer look.

"Let's head closer a bit to get a clearer look" Ryuji suggested before they headed up to the doorway leading to the room while staying out of view.

"There it is…." Morgana told them as Naruto nodded.

"And once we send the calling card that haze will turn into a Treasure just like before….probably some kind of portrait or painting" Naruto said with a frown as he took another careful peek into the room.

"So, what now? Think it's safe to say we got our route set?" Ryuji asked before Morgana quickly shook his head.

"No, while we know where the Treasure is we don't have a secure route to it due to all the lasers and guards. All of that makes it difficult to actually get to the Treasure and forcing our way through will be difficult" Morgana explained to them which definitely made sense.

"So we'll need to find a way to steal it too….This is tougher than it was with Kamoshida" Ann muttered with a frown.

"We just have to make one final push. This is the last floor, last little area, so let's look around and find out the route to the Treasure" he told them as they nodded and he pulled out a map to look things over.

"There's a small room nearby so that probably means a safe room so let's go check it out and rest a bit" Naruto said as he walked over, seeing that his guess was right.

"Great! All this walking is a pain~!" Ann whined out with a pout as she plopped down on the couch. "Thankfully this is the last stretch" she said with a sigh before Shiho sat beside her with a smile.

"I'm thankful that the last section wasn't that difficult since the chances were always just either her shirt color, the tree branch, or her hair" Shiho said as Naruto sat down beside her with a sigh and a nod.

"If it had been something super detailed like 'oh her eyes are two centimeters lower' or something ridiculous like that I feel we would have been screwed" Naruto told them as he collapsed back on the couch, arms stretched out along the back of the couch.

"We should only have a bit more to go so let's recharge before heading back out" Morgana told them as they relaxed, Ann smirking as she got Shiho to lean back against Naruto's arm.

Naruto really didn't mind Shiho laying against his arm, in fact he tried to pull away just as he thought he was being rude by taking up the coach but Ann stopping him made him decide to leave it there for a bit.

As they rested, as nice as it was to relax, they knew they had to keep going.

Once out of the safe room Naruto immediately noticed what seemed to be a security booth right down the hallway in front of them.

"That seems as good a place as ever to check out first" Naruto suggested as the others nodded along before they walked over and entered with a press of a button.

"Think we can turn the lasers off from here!?" Ryuji asked, Naruto shrugging his shoulders as he walked over to the computer.

"We'll see but honestly most of the time these booths just mess with shutters" Naruto told him before he started to look over the computer. "Good news is that we don't need a password but there are several options for things we can do" Naruto said as the three options were 'disable the lasers', 'shut down main power', and 'open the shutters'.

"First let's open the shutters before we mess around with anything that might draw attention" Naruto said as he did that first. "Which should we do next?" Naruto asked since both felt decent choices.

"How about we try for the lasers first?" Ann suggested with Naruto pressing the option….only for nothing to happen.

"Huh? Nothing happened?" Ryuji said, clearly confused before an error appeared on the screen.

'Error: Only Lord Madarame can access this terminal due to maximum security protocol!' the error read, getting a sigh out of all of them.

"The heck? There was no point even comin' here then!" Ryuji grumbled before Naruto shook his head.

"There's still one option though that could help us depending on what is affected by it" Naruto said before he selected the power option.

Shutting down the power turned off all the lights, the only things illuminating the room with the Treasure in it being the Treasure itself and the infrared lasers - which they could see through the windows in the booth.

-Treasure Room-

"Wh-What is the meaning of this!?" Madarame yelled out as he looked around, surprised by the sudden darkness.

"I-I am not sure! It seems we have lost power. The backup generators should bring it up again in no time!" a Shadow told him before the lights turned themselves back on.

"What a nasty surprise….Could this be? Hey, someone!" Madarama muttered to himself before glaring as he called out to a guard.

-Booth-

"Damn, it came back on pretty damn fast…." Ryuji grumbled as Naruto nodded with a frown.

"Not only that but the lasers stayed on the entire time despite the power being out….though that kind of makes sense for them to stay on as they are probably connected to another power source. Doesn't seem reasonable for us to be able to turn them off with a power outage when we couldn't directly turn them off" Naruto muttered as those lasers were definitely something Madarame refused to allow them to turn off.

"So we'll only be able to turn the power off in there for a few seconds, wonder how we can use that…." Morgana said, clearly trying to think over how it'd help them before Shiho cleared her throat.

"Guys, not trying to panic but some guards just ran out and I think they're headed our way!" Shiho pointed out quickly, getting them to turn to the door just as a Shadow ran in.

"So you're the ones who tampered with the electricity!" the guard yelled out at them, all of them ready for the fight that was about to start as it melted and turned into a long completely white dog.

"Silence him, fast!" Morgana urged them as they ran into battle.

Not knowing what to use they stuck to the usual plan of using all their elements on the Shadows. It wasn't until Ryuji knocked it down with Zio that they figured it out and - with a Baton Pass and Mazio from Ame-no-Uzume - they were able to knock all them down and kill them with an All-Out Attack.

He smiled a bit as he saw another set of two lights flow out of him, showing he had leveled up once again. The first light, ironically enough, turned into the dog they had literally just defeated while the second was the dog that he had fought back when Morgana had triggered the security with the golden vase.

"Me Shiisaa, that Makami. Me next of Strength and that next of Temperance. We strong and new masks!" the dog from before told him as the two Personas turned back into light and flew into him.

"Phew….that was a surprise…." Ann muttered with a tired sigh, not having expected that and barely had gotten ready in time.

"All we really managed to do was open the shutters" Ryuji complained with a groan.

"Not only that but we can only turn the lights off briefly while the lasers are completely unaffected" Shiho chimed in while Naruto nodded with a frown.

"Plus turning off the lights gets guards sent to the booth….All in all we need to see what's past the shutters before we figure out how this might possibly help us" Naruto told them as they nodded and decided there was nothing left for them to do in the booth, especially since the door on the other side of the booth not working.

They made sure not to get too close to the entranceway for the Treasure room as they sped across to the other side and started up what seemed - according to the map and incline - the upward spiraling path.

There weren't really any Shadows they had to deal with other than a singular one near the start that they were easily able to avoid on principle of not wanting to waste energy if it wasn't needed.

The path continued on until they reached a dead end with the door ahead of them having bars on it.

"There's another safe room, should we head in?" Ann pointed out as Naruto nodded.

"Yeah but we don't need to rest, right?" Naruto asked before everyone nodded as they were more just going in for a second to gain access to it if they needed it.

"So where do we go next? The door's locked and I don't see another route other than this little loop there is around the safe room" Ryuji pointed out, following him as Naruto walked over to what seemed to be a little 'viewing area' behind the safe room.

"We're going to have to use that" Naruto told them, pointing to a hook in the distance which got his grappling hook to glow.

"Wait, what!? We're going to be swinging across right above the Treasure and Madarame!?" Ann asked in a harsh whisper as she didn't want Madarame to potentially overhear them from below.

"We'll taper our hook's length to make sure we don't hit anything below while still making it to the other end. It'll be fine, I promise" he said, trying to assure her before she looked at the hook and sighed.

"Fine but can you go first so we can see how it goes?" Ann asked before Naruto nodded as they stepped to the side a bit.

"Just don't overthink it and don't panic. It's really easy to use" Naruto told them as he whipped out his grappling hook before shooting it off towards the hook that was hanging from high above them.

Swinging across the gap was pretty simple and the hook disengaged once he reached the other side.

Once across he turned around and gave the others a thumbs up to tell them it was good to go.

Even from across the way he could see Ann and Shiho seemed a bit nervous before Ann stepped forward after Ryuji apparently tried to go next. As Ann got ready Naruto stood ready to help her if needed but, in the end, it wasn't needed as she safely was able to make her way across.

"Wooo! That was so fun!" Ann giggled as somewhat tripped into his arms which made her fall into his arms a bit, her hugging him a bit with a smile. "Come on over Spartan! It's perfectly fine!" Ann called out, trying not to be too loud but just enough to get the message over to her.

"It'll be okay Spartan, I'll be here in case something happens!" Naruto called out to her as well, trying to make sure she felt safe given the height aspect of things.

Both of them watched as Shiho seemingly steeled her nerves before she made the leap which made them both on edge to help her if she needed it as with her eyes being shut tight they were getting a bit worried.

And worried they had a good reason to be as with her eyes closed she couldn't make the hook let go, causing Naruto to leap up to catch her and disengage it for her before Ann helped pull him back.

"Are you okay Spartan?" Naruto asked as Shiho clung to him tightly, her face buried in his chest as she softly nodded while he rubbed her back.

A shared look between him and Ann as they rubbed Shiho's back made it clear that they'd have to help Shiho with her troubles with heights later on.

Morgana and Ryuji were easily able to use their grappling hooks and, by then, Shiho had calmed down to allow them to continue on after a smile that showed she was good.

"Let's clear out the Shadows we meet from here on as the map says this is the last areas we have to explore, meaning we'll have to come back this way to leave and I don't know about you guys but having them out of the way makes our way back easier" Naruto suggested with the others nodding along before he rushed forward to unmask the Shadow that was patrolling the room attached to the ledge they had landed on.

The battle was rather simple, the Shadow melting into a group that they were able to handle - even with the stronger Nue in the center.

Feeling another pulse he was glad he was growing stronger so steadily as he watched two lights float out of him with the first transforming into a red armored knight with horns on his forehead atop a black horse with a spear in hand.

"Hark! I am Eligor of the Emperor Arcana! Your strength marks you as worthy to my power to be wielded as your mask from here on! Come seek me out when you have room in your mask" Eligor declared, revealing his roster was full before it turned back into light and flew into his chest.

The next turned out to be another pixie, this one looking a touch older with spiked up bright blue hair, long purple gloves, an armor chestplate and neckpiece with a bit of purple cloth between the two, a pair of black tights, and purple ankle high boots.

"Hello there Master~! My name is High Pixie, the next Persona of the Fool Arcana. I see you are acquainted with my kind but know this! I am much different than her so keep that in mind and we'll be golden sweetie~" High Pixie told him with a wink and a blown kiss before she turned back into light and flew into his chest.

From there they continued through the inclining hallway, only having two deal with two Shadow guards, each set being easy for them all with, by the end of the second fight he felt another pulse in his chest.(*2)

Just like the last time he leveled up he watched as two lights flew out of his chest.

The first transformed into a woman with long brown hair that seemed to be part cat as she had bright yellow cat eyes, white whiskers on her cheeks and cat fangs poking out of her mouth a bit as well as black pointed cat like ears where a normal person's ears would be and a long white cat tail.

Her outfit was a bit risque as it was a skin tight sleeveless black outfit from her chest down with what seemed to be a white fur 'coat' that she was wearing but he felt that might be her actual fur.

"Oh my Master, you seem to be eyeing me intensely~ If you wish to know what is fur and what isn't I'm more than willing to show you~" his Persona teased him with a soft giggle. "My name is Nekomata by the way, the next Persona of the Magician Arcana. I do hope we get along~" Nekomata told him before she turned back into light and flew into his chest, allowing the next Persona to manifest.

And boy was it an utter stark contrast to the last…

This one seemed to be a bipedal red horse with human hands and a green mane and tail.

"I am Orobas of the Hierophant Arcana! I shall become your mask and show you the truth of the future you want!" Orobas told him before he too turned into light and flew into his chest.

With the Shadows taken care of they were able to walk without worry until they arrived at a door.

"Is this some kind of security room too?" Ryuji asked as they opened up the door and looked inside to see some desks and servers inside.

"I think this might be a room where the mechanisms in the exhibition hall are controlled from? It seems something like that given the levers in the back and the servers over there" Naruto suggested, not too sure but given all the stuff in this part of the museum it made sense there would be stuff to control it all.

What drew Naruto's attention the most was a glowing red lever next to a metal thick cable on a spool along with a small ladder leading up to an opening that led out of the room. Pulling up onto the led he frowned as he saw a path of hanging planks and scaffolding.

"I think this path leads out above the Treasure. Spartan, you and Panther stay behind in case any Shadows follow us in" Naruto asked them, getting nods from them both and a thankful smile from Shiho as he knew she wouldn't feel safe up here like this.

Hopping from one plank to the next was really odd and a bit rickety but as they got to the last plank Naruto paused as he looked down to see they were right above the Treasure.

"Whoa, ain't this right above the Treasure? There's no lasers either so we could just hop down and grab it" Ryuji said before Naruto shook his head with a sigh.

"We wouldn't be able to get out once we are down there. If anything we'll be using that" Naruto told him, pointing to the metal hook that hung above in front of them. "I'm willing to bet that the lever from before operates this given it's cable is the same that's connected to the spool back in the room so let's go check it out" he suggested as he turned around to head back to the previous room, Ryuji and Morgana following along behind him.

"You two find anything useful?" Ann asked as Naruto dropped back down into the room with Ryuji and Morgana staying up on the ledge.

"I think so" Naruto told them as he pulled the lever, them all watching as the cable started to move.

"It controls the hook, just as you thought but you should stop before they notice it" Morgana confirmed, Naruto pushing back up the lever to reel it back in.

"And with that confirmed I have a plan to get the treasure that involves this hook, Mona, and the security booth down on the first floor" Naruto told them with a smile as Morgana's eyes widened a bit with a smirk as he seemed to understand what he had in mind.

"By using the momentary darkness we can send Morgana down with the hook to grab the painting. We'd have to split up to do it though, two down in the booth - one to press the button and another to distract the guard sent there way, one controlling the hook, and another to send the signal down to the booth members from up above" he explained, all of them thinking it over a bit before Ryuji frowned.

"But won't they realize what's goin' on at some point?" Ryuji asked as Morgana shook his head.

"By the time they realize it we should have the Treasure" he explained only for Shiho to raise her hand a bit.

"What I'm confused about is how are we going to get out of here with it? And what about the people who are down at the booth?" Shiho asked as she looked over to Naruto.

"The people down below will rush back up here the moment they ditch the guards and I'm willing to bet that Madarame will put the building on lock down so we'll have to scale down the outside of the building from a window nearby most likely" Naruto told them, watching as they mulled it over before they nodded with a determined look in their eyes.

"We trust you and your plan Joker, you just let us know when you want to pull it off and we'll be here" Ann said with a smile with Morgana pumping his fist in excitement.

"Alright! We got our infiltration route! Let's head on out and figure out when we're going to send it out!" Morgana announced, all of them agreeing as there wasn't any reason to stick around here any longer.

The way back to the safe room went decently, this time Naruto deciding to have Shiho hold onto him this time so she wasn't too afraid of the heights.

From there it was easy a quick and easy trip to the safe room and back to the outside of the museum.

He was a bit surprised as the world paused, getting him to look over to the Velvet Room door to see Justine seemingly waiting for him.

"You seem to be doing well Inmate. Come inside, we have an important matter to discuss regarding your rehabilitation" she told him, the door opening up for him before Naruto nodded as there was no reason to argue before he walked inside.

-Velvet Room-

"There you are, Inmate!" Caroline said a bit annoyed which honestly was the norm for her.

"Our master admires the progress of your rehabilitation and hence he has given you use of a special ritual" Justine told him before Caroline whipped out her baton and set it down like a cane.

"It's the Electric Chair! It allows you to use the energy of your Persona to transmute them into high level items!" Caroline before Justine cleared her throat, as if to remind her about something which got a groan from Caroline. "Fine Justine! But you have to explain it!" Caroline barked out, a bit of a blush on her cheeks as Justine nodded and stepped out in front of his cell.

"We have decided to set up some special assignments for you. We are willing to enter into a bond with you to help your rehabilitation and give you another set of bonds to grow stronger from and in return we merely ask that you guide us to a number of places in your reality's society that may foster your rehabilitation" Justine told him before Caroline banged on his bars.

"We will select the locations and you take us there! You should be thankful that we are willing to help you like this, Inmate!" Caroline yelled at him as he just nodded while resisting the urge to chuckle given the slight blush on her cheeks.

"Thank you, I promise to take this seriously" he told them, getting a smile from them both as the world turned grey despite them not being affected by the world stopping.

"I am thou, thou art I….Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of both the Sun and Moon Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…" the woman's voice told him, showing that both Caroline and Justine had their own Arcana instead of sharing one like he somewhat expected.

Personally it was obvious which was which given Caroline was rather fiery and Justine was always so calm.

"You seem to have all the Persona for our Arcana thus far, continue to grow stronger and more will come" Justine said with a smirk, as if proud that he had collected them on his own.

"Here, take these!" Caroline told him, pushing some items into his cell which seemed to be some knives, guns, and rocks. "Those are used in the Electric Chair, you can't use them without them. We'll keep you stocked on them for a price so keep that in mind Inmate!" she told him as he nodded and was thankful that the items seemingly went right into his 'Metaverse Storage' since his prison jumpsuit didn't have pockets.

"Do take your time and make sure you are set before leaving" Justine told him before he sat down on his bench to check over all the new Persona he had.

He started off by removing Makami and Inugami before adding Nekomata as while he did have Ame-no-Uzume for wind Nekomata was a touch stronger. He of course kept Ame-no-Uzume since she had electricity skills.

With that all situated he decided to take a look at what fusions he could make now that he was stronger.

The two that caught his attention were Phoenix and Orthrus. Phoenix due to its stronger Nuke skill and Orthrus due to its stronger Fire skill, plus Orthrus was fused using Matador which allowed his Psi skills to carry over.

This allowed him to remove Matador and Suzaku in exchange for stronger elemental skills.

"So, how does this Electric Chair work?" Naruto asked as Justine handed him her clipboard but flipped over the page to show the list of the Persona he's acquired so far but the names next to them were the names of skills or things that seemed like items.

"It works the same as fusion alongside the items we gave you. We use the energy of your Persona and with the help of the electric chair we can transmute the items we gave you into something else" Justine explained as he looked over the list of what he could make.

Main thing that interested him was a new knife gained through Arséne called 'Arséne's Cane', an SMG from a Succubus, a shotgun from a Jack O'Lantern, and a carbine from Angel.

All in all this allowed him to upgrade everyone else's firearms while he gained a stronger weapon.

"Nice choices there Inmate! Those should actually help you out, I'm impressed" Caroline said, getting an eye roll from him as he handed Justine back the clipboard.

"Are you done?" Justine asked before he nodded.

"Done a lot today, kind of just want to head home now" he told them, the two of them nodding as the cell door opened up behind him to allow him to head back to the Palace and - with a simple nod - he left the room and the Metaverse right after.

-Real World-

As he got home he could already feel his muscles screaming at him as he rubbed the back of his neck before his phone chimed, telling him the others had arrived home most likely.

Ann: All we have to do now is send the calling card to Madarame

Ryuji: Alright! It's finally time!

Shiho: We just have to decide when we're going to do it. That's up to you again Naruto

Naruto: I'll let you guys know and we'll head to the hideout to talk things over

Naruto: After all, I've been working on something for the calling card

Ryuji: Sweet! We'll stay ready until you call for the meet up!

Naruto could only sigh, purely out of exhaustion, as he headed up to his room. 'We'll see how I feel about sending it tomorrow. I have to be ready for the fight before we go for the Treasure as I know Madarame is going to be much stronger than Kamoshida' he thought with a frown, a bit worried but also excited for the coming fight.

Though he knew worrying wasn't going to help in the slightest so all he could do was rest and prepare for what was about to happen.

-5/18 - Wednesday-

He couldn't hold in his yawn as he made his way to the platform, covering his mouth a bit as he did so before he heard a chuckle behind him.

"Good morning Naruto, tired this morning?" Makoto asked as she and the professional looking woman with grey hair walked up to him.

"Yeah, sorry. I just got caught up working on some extra stuff last night" he told her before Makoto noticed him looking towards the woman beside her.

"Oh, Naruto, I'd like to introduce you to my sister Sae. Sis, this is the underclassman I told you about" Makoto introduced before Sae smiled at him and nodded.

"We've actually met before, he works part-time at this nice little cafe I've been frequenting" Sae said with a smile before she put her hand on her hip. "I will say I already know a bit about him as I believe I saw a video of him leaping out of a window to save someone" she told him, getting him to rub the back of his head sheepishly.

"Is that video that well known?" Naruto asked with a frown as Makoto nodded with a slight dry chuckle as if it was kind of obvious.

"I found it after looking into the school after your school's gym teacher turned himself in. I was shocked by it but I'm glad both you and the girl are okay" Sae said as she frowned a bit.

"I hear her parents are suing your school's principal for his complacency throughout it all and even permitted the teacher to do everything he is confessing to" she told him as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"To threaten a student into silence by using the threat of ruining their parent's careers is pretty despicable" Makoto told her, getting a nod from Sae.

"I definitely agree and it seems there are other teachers silently coming forward to add legitimacy to the claims about your principal" she said as Naruto scoffed a bit.

"Good as I even heard that he's still threatening other students. Sooner he's charged the better" Naruto said, not outright telling her about Makoto but wanting her opinion on things.

"Really?" Sae asked, her eyes wide a bit before she furrowed her brow in thought and rubbed her chin a bit. "If that's true then it can help the prosecution against him….I'll have to pass that onto whoever is in charge of the case. If you can I'd advise those students to seemingly go along with his demands until he is charged" she told him, getting a nod from him as he smiled over to Makoto who smiled softly back at him before Sae sighed a bit and looked over at him.

"Before the train arrives I feel that I have to apologize to you as with the video and Makoto mentioning you to me I looked a bit into you as I work as a prosecutor. When Makoto talked about you she told me how the rumors going around your school about your record weren't accurate and my curiosity got the better of me" Sae apologized before he shrugged it off, not really caring if someone looked into it.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just thankful that people like Makoto-senpai believe in me and not the odd rumors" Naruto told her, smiling over to Makoto again before Sae smiled as well.

"I will admit that your case is very odd and reeks of discrepancies so personally I'm inclined to believe what my sister told me" she said before checking her watch. "Look, I'll have Makoto give you my number as I can send info along to whoever is in charge of the Kobayakawa case. Plus I can't say I'm not a bit curious about you so us talking will help placate my curiosity" Sae suggested with a bit of a chuckle, surprising him a bit before he nodded.

"That sounds great, I'm sure Shiho's parents would appreciate the help" Naruto said with a smile, not minding Sae being curious about him before Sae smiled softly back with a nod as Naruto watched the world turn grey.

"I am thou, thou art I….Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Judgement Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…" the woman said once more while the lack of no new Persona appearing told him he wasn't strong enough to access the first Persona of this Arcana.

As the world turned back to normal the train arrived.

"We can talk more about it later as we all have somewhere to be" Sae told them as they got in line to get on the train and headed off to school.

Throughout the school day Naruto's thoughts were elsewhere as he was contemplating and thinking about the calling card.

As the school day ended he figured, since they actually went into action the next day, deciding to send it would allow them some rest before actually heading in.

"So? Are we sending the calling card?" Ann asked, turning around in her seat as usual before Naruto nodded as he stood up.

"Yeah, gather everyone at the hideout and I'll be there in a bit. I need to get some new equipment for you guys first" Naruto told her, getting an excited smile from her as she quickly stood up.

"Awesome! We'll be ready when you show up!" Ann said as she started to message the others to get them ready for him.

As he made his way to Untouchables he scrolled through his Metaverse inventory, noticing just how much treasure he had that he could sell. 'Well, with all this I should easily have enough to buy all the stuff for everyone' he thought to himself as he arrived.

And boy was he right.

'A bit over 57 thousand….that's insane….' Naruto thought as he shook off the shock from it before he started to look through what he was able to buy and - with 53 thousand to spend - he didn't have to worry about anything.

In the end he was easily able to buy Morgana a new slingshot as well as new weapons for even had enough to customize everyone's model guns to make them much stronger.

As he headed to the hideout he felt a whole lot better about things as all of the new weapons and modified guns easily helped ease his worries and assure him a bit that they were prepared and ready for stealing the Treasure tomorrow.

"You get everything you need?" Ann asked as he arrived, getting a nod from him as he waved his phone at them a bit.

"Definitely, everything is all equipped and ready. Are you all ready to send the calling card?" Naruto asked, looking at each of them as he got nods from them all.

"I'm a bit worried though, will a celebrity like Madarame take the calling card seriously? I mean, he's probably received threatening letters and whatnot in the past" Shiho asked with a bit of a frown before Ryuji nodded.

"He'll know best whether the crime written on it is for real or not" Ryuji reassured her while Morgana grumbled a bit as he peeked his head out of the bag.

"Wait, are you going to write it again Ryuji? The last one was questionable at best…." Morgana muttered before Naruto chuckled and pulled out his probation diary.

"I feel I can help with that as I've been working on something a bit. I may not be an artist but a friend of mine taught me some stuff and with some time here and there I was able to come up with this" Naruto said as he showed off the new logo that he had come up with.

"Whoa! That looks sick!" Ryuji said with stars in his eyes as the girls also seemed to be impressed by it.

"Yeah! It looks so much better than what Ryuji drew the first time" Ann said with a smile, ignoring Ryuji's grumbling as she looked up at him. "You think you can help Ryuji spruce up the calling card?" she asked before Naruto nodded with a smile.

"Sure thing, just think of Kamoshida's card as the rough draft and this the finished product as this time we are on the public stage so we have to make it look good" Naruto said, bumping fists with Ryuji as he was ready to get things done.

The creation of the calling card went really well as they worked on it a bit in a Big Bang Burger together with the girls watching a bit until they had finished.

Once home Naruto knew that he needed to head to bed early as tomorrow would be an intense day even with all the planning he had done.

They were taking down a Palace Ruler tomorrow and he had to be ready.

-Chapter End-

Pairing: Naruto x Futaba, Ann, Shiho, Makoto, Haru, Kasumi, Kawakami, Tae, Caroline, Justine, Lavensa, Sae, Hifumi, Ohya, Chihaya, and Naoto

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**NOTICE**: Thinking things over I realized that Yusuke can't realistically be the Emperor Arcana given he isn't in the group and even more so due to the actions of him last time he and Naruto met. Naruto would still not be too willing/open to talking with him honestly. Hence, why - by the time this chapter is posted - I will have edited two previous chapters (8 and 9) to where Jose became the Emperor Arcana. He was the only guy that could fit given I wasn't about to give Mishima it honestly :/

I know some of you might be upset that Yusuke is completely out of the fic but you have to realize his actions would definitely make Naruto not too into talking with him :/

*1 = Given their bond started earlier and things are different with Naruto and Kawakami in the fic the confidant route is going to be different as are most confidant routes as the one thing I'm making more realistic for sure is that Naruto will ask for names a lot sooner meaning some later stuff can be tweaked/skipped depending on the route

It's my way of making things more realistic as if someone is constantly complaining about how terrible someone is and you have the power to change/help I feel you'd ask for a name a lot sooner than it happened in the game

*2 = Just want to let you know why I'm having him level up a bit frequently. Its mainly due to the fact I'm trying to get his level back up to the level I am on the save file I'm using to help with writing. I messed up a bit and did a bit too much fighting in Kamoshida's castle (mainly due to the fighting being unavoidable at spots)

Promise I won't do it anymore as with him turning level 17 I'm officially caught up with my save file so no more quick/sudden level ups. If my save file levels up then so will Naruto

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Before I get to the story notes I would like to remind everyone I do have a pat reon which includes rewards like seeing progress updates, notifications to new stories I plan to do, voting polls, and early access to chapters before I post them on FF.

Simple go to pat reon and paste:

/user?u=4783680

At the end of pat reon's url and you'll find my page.

You don't get anything that everyone here won't get aka there will be no "pat reon exclusive stories" or things where I have to get a certain amount of money before I work on something as both of those are shitty practices.

It is solely "hey, you want to support me, a disabled unemployed writer who survives off my disability checks? Thanks, I appreciate it" and nothing more

So yeah, check it out if you want, now onto chapter notes!

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I finished this chapter before the boss fight as I felt it was the perfect place to stop it to keep the chapter from going on super long. Plus it allows the boss fight and the change of heart to be included within the same chapter

Also yeah, Caroline and Justine are the Sun and Moon Arcana confidants! I felt it was very fitting for them given how 'night and day' they are you know?

I also did quite a lot of other confidant awakenings in this chapter with Makoto and even Sae ahead of time. This will have a big impact on the interrogation that comes after her Palace while also helping along adding her to the pairing so look forward to that

Also, as you all have seen, the Thief Logo was still created due to Naruto slowly working to create it with the bit of lessons Sai gave him back home. He's not a master artist or anything but with time he was able to make it.

Also, just in case you're wondering, the 57k was how much I got from selling all the treasure picked up from Kamoshida and Madarame's Palaces so it wasn't just me giving him a ton of money out of nowhere

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I hope you all liked it

Until Next Time

Rate and Review

Buh-Bye!