Vanex: Hello all! There are two things I need to say. When Naruto left Iwatodai, he left before the events of "The Answer". It happened, but he didn't participate in it. Also, I am considering making prequels to this story, which would cover the events of Persona 3 and Persona 4, fully showing Naruto's participation in those events. Whether I do them or not will most likely depend on how well this story does. Now then, here we go with Chapter 1!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Persona 3, or Persona 4.

"Normal Talking"

"Normal Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks"

"Kyuubi Talking"

"Kyuubi Thinking"

*Scene Change*

Chapter 1

"Man, there's no one in there but the old lady. Risette isn't even here after all."

"I heard that she is already here, but it might've been just a rumor. Well, it was fun while it lasted."

Naruto, Yu, Yosuke, and Kanji watched as the small crowd in front of the tofu shop walked away.

Yosuke was shocked. "A rumor! What, she's not here! Seriously!"

Kanji smirked. "Pfft, you sound like the world's about to end."

Naruto laughed. "He's right, you know."

Yosuke snarled at them. "Shut up!" He calmed himself down. "Anyways, now that all those people are gone, we might as well check inside. I'll buy something."

Yu looked at him. "You should buy ganmodoki."

Yosuke was surprised. "How did you know I can't eat tofu? Wow, that's considerate of you." A confused look appeared on his face. "Wait, what's ganmodoki again? Is it the kind with a rice cake in it?"

The other three all sweatdropped. "No," said Kanji, "there's no rice cakes in them."

He went on to explain what ganmodoki is. Yosuke nodded his head in understanding. "Ohhh, okay, I know what you mean! I think I can eat that."

Naruto gestured toward the shop. "Let's go in, already."

The four walked into the shop. Yosuke looked around. "Let's see here..." He looked around, noticing only one woman who was leaning over something. "Sure enough, the only one here is your typical old lady."

Naruto held back his laughter seeing what the other three couldn't see. He had his years of ninja training, especially about looking underneath the underneath, to help him spot the obvious truth about the woman.

Kanji looked at Yosuke. "Man, why don't you just ask if she's in the back?" He then looked in the direction of the woman. "Excuse me!"

A voice to his side answered him. "Yes, may I help you?"

The group turned to see the old lady who owned the shop looking at them. Yosuke was shocked. "What the-! Then, who's that...?"

The woman turned to face them. It was a younger woman wearing a uniform of the shop. "What?"

Naruto finally burst out laughing. "You guys really didn't notice that this woman is Rise Kujikawa?"

The other three looked at him. Yosuke was mad. "You mean, you could tell that it was her and didn't tell us?"

"It was more fun to let you guys embarrass yourselves."

"How could you tell, anyway?"

"The hair, obviously. I've actually been in here and have seen the owner before. Her hair no longer has its color. Plus, it's styled differently."

Yosuke looked at Rise. "Are you really Risette?"

Rise sighed. "What do you want?"

"Huh...? Oh, sorry, um... Some tofu please!"

"Tofu...? Which kind?"

"Huh? Wh-Which one's which again...?"

"If you're going to eat it by itself, you should go with silken. Momen's better for cooking... Depends on how you use it."

"Um..." Yosuke quickly leaned toward Kanji. "Psst, Kanji! Order something!"

"Wha-! Why're you making me do it! You already picked ganmo a second ago!" He looked at Rise. "Dude here wants three ganmodoki."

"Oh, I see... I'll go get them."

The four watched her go to get the ganmodoki. Yosuke was surprised. "Wow... She's nothing like she seems on TV... I wonder if she's just tired..."

Naruto sighed. "Yes, she's tired. Tired of being seen as Risette. That's why she's here. She doesn't want to be seen as Risette. She wants to be seen as plain, old Rise Kujikawa, a teenage girl who works at her family's tofu shop, who also happens to have an amazing singing voice and just happens to look beautiful. And that's what I see when I look at her. Even if she was the ruler of the world, I would still see her as just Rise."

None of them noticed that Rise had heard what Naruto said and was surprised.

Yosuke spoke. "But it is really her... I'm so glad I came! Mission comple-" He paused. "Wait, we haven't done what we came for yet!" He looked over at Rise. "Um...! H-Have you noticed anything weird lately?"

"Weird...? Like stalkers? Are you guys fans of mine?"

Kanji looked towards Yosuke. " I wouldn't say "we," but yeah, dude here's a big fan."

"You little...! Why'd you let that slip!"

"Her curves, her posture, even her beautiful, slim legs... Ya finished checkin' em out yet, or what?

"Waaaaaaah! Y-You're doing this on purpose, aren't you! I didn't say that! I never said any of that!" He looked back at Rise. "Maybe you know already, but it's been dangerous in Inaba lately. That's why we've been investigating some stuff."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Sorry, um... Let's see... Do you know about the TV show that comes on at midnight? I mean, it's not like regularly scheduled programming... How do I explain this...?"

"...That thing that was on last night? The Midnight Channel, yeah?"

"Oh, you know about it... Wait? What! You mean, you saw it last night!"

"I heard the rumors from some friends of mine. But that girl last night wasn't me. I've never been filmed wearing that swimsuit before. And the bustline..."

"Huh?"

"Mine aren't that big."

"Oh yeah, I see what you mean now... I-I mean... What am I saying! U-Um, I'm sorry...!"

Rise smiled. "Don't apologize so much. You're funny."

Yosuke noticed the smile. "Hey, she smiled."

The smile faded from Rise. "What is that show about, anyway?"

"Well, we're not too sure either... But you know that there's been stuff happening here, right? We think that the people who appear there... are the ones who get kidnapped next."

Rise was shocked. Kanji looked at her seriously. "I know this is sudden, but we're not lying."

Yosuke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's why we thought you should know about it."

Rise pondered. "Huh... So that wasn't a dream. I was tired yesterday, but I couldn't sleep. And it was raining, so I decided to try that rumor I'd heard about... Hmm. Alright, thanks... I'll be careful."

Some time later she had fully prepared the order and brought it over to Yosuke. "Here you go, three ganmo. That'll be 600 yen. There's extra tofu in there for everyone... A little thank-you for worrying about me."

Yosuke was surprised. "Whoa, seriously? Thanks!"

Kanji looked at Yosuke. "Yosuke-sempai, you can't eat tofu, right? Want me to take yours?"

"Hell no! I always eat what people give me."

Yosuke handed Rise the money. Rise smiled. "Thank-you and enjoy your meal!"

Yu nodded to the others. "Let's go, guys."

Naruto looked at him. "You guys go ahead. There's something I need to do."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll catch up with you later."

The other three left while Naruto turned to Rise. "I know what you want to ask me."

Rise was surprised. "How did you-?"

"I come from a village far away from here. In my village we have a leader we call the Hokage. When I was younger, I met the grandson of the Hokage at the time. Whenever people looked at him, all they saw was the grandson of the Hokage. What he wanted was for people to see him for who he really was and I was the first person to do so. He looks up to me as a role model because of this."

"Were you telling the truth before? That you would look at me as-"

"Yes. Goodbye, Rise. I'm sure we'll meet again."

Naruto turned and left the shop, knowing that behind him, Rise was smiling.

*Scene Change*

Naruto smiled at the memory.

"What are you thinking about, Naruto-kun?"

He smiles at Rise. "Actually I was thinking about the day we first met, Rise-chan."

She smiles back. "I remember. You really made me feel like I could truly be me that day."

It's the following morning after Naruto arrived. The two are now walking towards Junes, to meet up with the rest of the gang, including Yu, who arrived a week ago.

"You made sure not to mention that I'm back, right?"

"Yep. There's no way I'm going to mess this up. The looks on their faces will be priceless!"

Naruto grins as he makes the final adjustments to his outfit. "How do I look?"

"Perfect."

*Scene Change*

The gang are all sitting at their usual table at the Junes food court, waiting for Rise to join them.

"You know something strange? Rise-chan sounded awfully cheerful when she talked on the phone," says Chie.

"Yeah," says Yukiko, "it was strange, considering how depressed she was after Naruto-kun left."

Kanji looks at them. "She might have moved on."

Yosuke looks at Kanji in shock. "No way! Those two were very close. There is no way she would have betrayed Naruto like that!"

"That's why I used the word "might" genius!"

Yu sighs. "That's enough, you two. You are both overreacting."

Naoto nods in agreement. "Yu's right. We could sit here and guess about this all we like, but it will all be determined when Rise-chan arrives."

Teddie sighs. "I do miss Naruto, though. He always knew how to cheer us all up when we felt down."

The others nod in agreement. Naruto had made a definite impact on their lives.

"Hey, guys!"

They all look up to see Rise walking towards them, with someone wearing a black trenchcoat and a black fedora. The fedora and the coat are shadowing the face of the person.

Chie smiles. "Hey, Rise-chan. Who's this?"

"Oh, my boyfriend."

This creates an uproar in the group.

Yosuke is pissed. "Why?"

Chie glares. "How could you betray Naruto-kun?"

Kanji stands up, pissed, and moves to punch the stranger. But the stranger catches the punch and twists Kanji's body so that he's restraining Kanji's arm behind his back.

"Geez, you guys sure overreact. Just because I'm wearing this outfit and shadowing my face, doesn't mean I'm a complete stranger."

The others freeze at his voice. The figure releases his hold on Kanji and tilts up the fedora to reveal himself as Naruto. Both he and Rise burst out laughing.

"You guys should see the looks on your faces! You really thought I would betray Naruto-kun?"

Everyone sits with a shocked look on their face to see Naruto, before it kicks in that they're looking at Naruto and quickly jump up to envelop him in a group hug.

"Hey, cut it out you guys! I should never have introduced you to the concept of group hugs!"

Rise, who's stuck in the center with Naruto, laughs. "You say that with a smile on your face."

The hug finally ends, but Chie remembers something. "Wait, you said he was your boyfriend. Does that mean you two are now officially dating?"

Naruto scratches the back of his head and smiles. Rise also grins and says, "Yes, we are now officially dating."

Chie lets out a squeal of delight before hugging Rise. "Congratulations, you two!"

Teddie sighs. "That means I'm the only one left."

Naruto is confused. "What do you mean?"

Yu wraps an arm around Yukiko. Yosuke and Chie interlink arms. Kanji and Naoto hold hands. It dawns on Naruto. "You guys are all dating? Well, I knew about Yu and Yukiko, but the rest of you?"

The other two couples nod. Naruto is ecstatic about this. Then Yu asks a question. "Where are you staying, right now?"

"Well, I stayed at Rise's place last night, but that's why you guys are here. I have more than enough money to buy a house. You guys are all going to help me pick it out! For you see, I'm here to stay!"

The others are shocked at what he said. Naoto asks the question on their minds. "But what about Konoha?"

"They can go screw themselves. They've pushed me around one too many times. But before we go house searching, I could use some food and a drink."

Naruto and Rise sit down at the table with the others and they all get a meal. They sit and talk about what Naruto has been up to and everyone is brought up to speed with each other.

Yosuke is pissed. "How could they do that to you? After all you did for them!"

Naruto nods at him. "Which is why they can all go screw themselves. I don't care what happens to Konoha anymore! I've given them so many chances to redeem themselves, but they blew each one! Now come on, let's forget about Konoha and get to house... searching..."

Naruto trails off as he notices something that causes his eyes to widen.

Rise looks at him. "Naruto-kun? What's wrong?"

Naruto grabs Yosuke by the shirt. "When was that store added to Junes?"

"What the hell, man? It was added a month ago! Let me go!"

Naruto lets Yosuke go as he runs over to the store in question and looks again at the sign. It read: Arisato's Music & Electronics. He opens the door and steps inside.

"Welcome to Arisato's. How can I help... Naruto?"

Staring at Naruto is a woman with auburn hair and crimson eyes. Alerted by the woman, a man appears from around a set of CD players. The man has blue hair and gray eyes.

Naruto stares at both of them in disbelief. "Minato? Minako?"

Vanex: And I think I'll stop there just for the sake of the cliffhanger. How are Minato and Minako even there, considering they should be the Great Seal? You'll find out next time, whenever I decide to release it. See you all next time!