I do not own Naruto or the Persona Series.
"Persona!" normal speech
"Persona!" thought/mind speak
"Persona!" demon/Persona speech.
Chapter II
*Hospital*
It had been a week since the incident at the dormitory as well as the awakening of Minato's and Kotone's Personas as Naruto patiently waited at Kotone's bedside.
During that week, SEES had learned that Akihiko will be on the sideline for a while because of a 'bad training accident' and the boxer wasn't too happy about it.
"Then again," said Naruto as he carefully watched Kotone for any changes, "we did find someone with the potential and helped them awaken their Persona."
It was only three nights after the incident when Naruto and Kichi ventured during the Dark Hour and found the person.
"I remember like it was yesterday…" said Naruto as he thought back on that particular night…
Flashback
[Dark Hour]
*Paulownia Mall*
Naruto and Kichi were patrolling during the Dark Hour for any stray Shadows when the two of them heard a scream of terror.
"Come on kit," said Kichi as she and Naruto ran towards the source of the scream: a pharmacy.
Naruto opened the door and saw a few coffins in the store and said, "Hello? Anyone here?"
Kichi twitched her ears a bit, went down one the isles and saw a figure curled up in a ball.
"Over here!" barked Kichi as she got the figure's attention.
"Huh?" said a familiar voice, "What's a fox doing here?"
Naruto looked at the figure and said, "You?"
[End Dark Hour]
Flashback End
*Hospital*
Naruto was snapped out of memory lane as he saw Kotone waking up.
"N…Naruto-kun?" asked Kotone as she slowly lifted herself up, "Where…where am I?"
The blond chuckled and said, "You're at the hospital as you and Minato were in a week long coma after the two of you had awakened your Personas."
Seeing the confused look on the girl's face, Naruto then said, "I'll explain later, once Minato is up and about. But there is something I would like to tell you…about me."
"I'm not originally from around here," Naruto said as a solemn look was seen on his face as he began his tale, "I'm actually from another land similar to a backwater version to Japan. Too be honest, I was never really liked as most of the people there had saw me as some…thing similar to a monster and decided to attack me in hopes of destroying the monster that attack our home years ago."
Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat before he continued, "I had made friends before…but everything had changed when I stopped one of them from doing something completely stupid. That boy was actually more of a brother to me, but since he was the golden boy of the village…I was to be executed at midnight and that was when something inside of me had awakened and transported me here where I discovered I was a relative to Mitsuru through her mother, who happened to be my long lost aunt. I guess you can make up the rest from there."
"Well," Naruto said as he headed towards the door, "since you're awake, the Docs said that you and Minato are free to leave once you wake up. I have a few things to take care of for Mitsuru; We found another person for the team and I'm sure Yuka-tan would be quite surprised at who the person is."
Kotone watched the door shut as Naruto left and she couldn't help but think that there was more to Naruto than what the blond had let on, but she would cross that bridge later…after getting out of the hospital and finding something good to eat as she was completely starving.
Naruto walked down the halls of the hospital until he saw Fuuka and waved to her before approaching the girl.
"Hey Fuuka-chan, what brings you here?" Naruto asked with a small smile.
"I was…" said the girl with a quiet voice, "I was here…for a…check-up…You here for a check-up as well?"
Naruto couldn't help but sense that Fuuka was here for more than a check-up, but he let it go as he said, "I was just checking up on the two new kids since that little scare a week ago when they just collapsed without warning…turns out to be extremely bad fatigue."
Fuuka let out relaxed sigh and said, "Well I'm glad that they're alright. I'd talk with you some more, but I need to see the doctor. See you in school."
Naruto watched the girl walked down the hall as he couldn't help but feel something off and wanted to wait so he could talk to her, but his phone had gone off as the blonde check to find that Mitsuru was needing him.
I wish I could help you Fuuka-chan, Naruto thought as he head out of the hospital, but I guess I can wait for the right moment…for now.
*Gekkoukan High*
Classes had ended as Naruto walked out the doors with his gym bag in hand.
"I hate cutting out on the Kendo Team," the blonde said as he gave his sports gear and extra heave onto his shoulders, "but this meeting is important."
Naruto then saw Yukari walking with Kotone and couldn't help but cringe at Yukari's pink cardigan.
"Pink's such an ugly color," Naruto couldn't help but whisper to himself as memories of what she had done to him, "I'll never forgive her for what she'd done to me."
Naruto soon walked away, not noticing that someone had overheard him from the behind the steps.
"Naruto doesn't like pink?" Fuuka said with confusion at the blonde's tone of voice, "I understand that most guys think that pink is more of a girl's color, but why would he say it like that?"
Another thing that Fuuka had noticed was that Naruto had mentioned something about 'not forgiving her' as he looked at Yukari.
"And what does he have against Takeba-san?" Fuuka asked herself with much ponder on her mind as she then left in a hurry before she could find her.
*Dorm*
Evening had arrived as Naruto, Kichi, Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Ikutsuki were in the command room waiting for Yukari to bring in Minato and Kotone.
"Can't believe the power they showed last week," Akihiko said as that night kept playing in his mind, "it's almost similar to Naruto's."
"Yeah," Naruto said as he crossed his arms, "I also remember your blood dripping on the floors that night too. You do realize that you could have gotten us killed."
"I could have taken it," Akihiko said before he cringed in pain from his injuries.
"…And because of that," Naruto countered with an unimpressed look on his face, "we are down one of our senior members."
"Enough," Mitsuru said as she glared at both of the young boys, "Naruto, while you are right about the possible damages that could have happened, there is still the two of us and your ability to switch Personas."
"I can already tell that this team will be extremely powerful if both of them can switch Personas like Naruto," Ikutsuki said as Yukari soon entered with Minato and Kotone following her, "Speak of the devils. We're glad that the both of you are okay."
"The reason I asked for the both of you here is because I needed to talk with you," Ikutsuki began as he sent a comforting smile as he motioned to the empty chairs, "Please, have a seat."
As the trio took their seats, Ikutsuki motioned towards Akihiko and said, "Before I forget, this is Akihiko; I believe I mentioned him earlier."
The boxer gave the two a small wave as Ikutsuki then said, "Now, let me start off with this: Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?"
"No./…excuse me?" both Minato and Kotone said at the same time.
"Typical." Naruto bluntly said with a small chuckle before he then said, "Then again, you both have already gone through this before."
"You remember the night you two arrived?" Naruto then asked with a serious face, "You had to have seen the signs: no lights, anything electronic didn't work…the many coffins scattered around the place. Didn't you notice anything…odd about the whole thing?"
"That's the Dark Hour," Mitsuru explained as she picked up where the blonde had left off, "a time period hidden between one day and the next?"
"Hidden?" both teens asked at the same time.
"I guess it's something people aren't aware of," Ikutsuki said, hiding a small chuckle behind his voice, "but the Dark Hour does exist and it only happens at midnight; it'll happen tonight and every night following it."
"Normal people don't realize it, since they're all sleeping in their coffins," Akihiko added before a smirk appeared on his face, "But that's not what makes the Dark Hour interesting…"
The silver-haired teen then stood up, getting a slight look of concern from Mitsuru, and then said, "You saw those creatures; We call them 'Shadows'. They only appear during the Dark Hour and will attack anyone not in their coffin. It's our job to defeat them…sounds exciting, doesn't it?"
"Don't treat this like one of your boxing matches, you protein chugging baka!" Naruto said as he was tempted to hit Akihiko if not for the already existing injury on said boxer, "You got your ass badly tossed around not too long ago!"
Wanting to defuse the tension, Ikutsuki looked at both teens and said, "Now, now. He does his work well."
Both teens sat back down, but not before Naruto gave Akihiko a quick snort, as Ikutsuki then said, "Long story short: we're the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or SEES for short. On paper, this is just a special club for the school, but in reality, we are a group dedicated to defeating the Shadows with Mitsuru as the leader and me being the club advisor."
"Shadows feed on the minds on those they target," Naruto said as he laced his fingers together, "turning their prey into living corpses. Shadows are also responsible for mostly everything that's been happening here if you pay attention to the news."
"How do you fight them?" Kotone asked with concern of what could happen because of those monsters.
"Although rare," Ikutsuki began as he sensed the question, "there are those who can function during the Dark Hour; some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows."
"The power the two of you used," Naruto said as he leaned back on his seat, "that kind of power is called Persona; Shadows can only be beaten by those who have such a power."
"Which means it's all up to you guys," Ikustuki said before he receive an understanding nod and a slight reluctant nod from Minato and Kotone respectively, "I'm glad you both understand."
Naruto and Mitsuru stood up and opened the two silver suitcases on the table as Mitsuru said, "What he is trying to say is that we want you to join us; We've prepared Evokers for the both of you so you could lend us your strength."
"Sure/…okay," said Minato and Kotone at the same time.
"What is it with the whole 'psychic twin' thing?" Kichi asked as was lying next to Naruto's seat.
"I'm glad that you both accepted," Ikutsuki said with a smile, "and as for your rooms…why not stay here in your current rooms?
Dude just wanted to get out of doing paperwork, Naruto thought as he ignored the chairman's poor excuse of a joke.
"What have I gotten myself into, Kichi?" Naruto asked the fox at his feet as he gently ran a hand on her back.
"You keep asking yourself that and Buddha will eventually just smack you on the upside of your head with the answer," the fox said with a yawn escaping her mouth, "Time for me to get my beauty rest. C'mon Kit, you need your rest too considering that it's almost time to go there."
Naruto wordlessly followed considering that Minato and Kotone are not the only ones joining SEES…
The next evening arrived as Naruto and Akihiko were waiting in the lobby before Yukari arrived with Minato and Kotone following her.
"Okay," Yukari said as she looked at the two teens, "they're here…what's this about?"
"Just a new addition to the team," Naruto said before he opened the door behind him and said, "Hey! How much longer are you going to take?"
"Hold on," said a familiar voice that caught Yukari and Minato's attention, "j-just giiive me a minute."
Naruto moved from the door as Junpei arrived as he was pushing a large green suitcase into the lobby.
"J-Junpei!?" Yukari asked with complete shock, "What's HE doing here!? Wait…don't tell me that…"
"This is Junpei Iori from Class 2-F," Akihiko said as he ignored the shocked reaction from Yukari, "He'll be staying here as of today."
Junpei chuckled as he asked, "Whazzup?"
"Really!?" Yukari said, still shocked at the revelation before her, "He's staying HERE!?"
"Kichi and I found him while Minato and Kotone were out," Naruto said as he placed a hand on Junpei's shoulder, "He's got the potential, but he just recently discovered it. Told him about our little group and what we do and he jumped on the bandwagon."
Seeing the completely slapped look on Yukari, Junpei chuckled a bit before he sheepishly admitted, "They found me at the convenience store, crying like a baby and surrounded by coffins. I don't remember much, but it was pretty embarrassing."
"It just a normal phase for beginning Persona-users," Naruto said as if the information was trivia, "confusion, disorientation, partial memory loss. It goes away in time as you get used to everything."
"I'd pretty much say the introductions are over," Akihiko then said with a knowing smirk, "I'd say they're ready…"
"Ready?" Junpei asked with curiosity, "For what?"
"Hold on Akihiko," said Naruto as he knew what the boxer was thinking, "How about I show 'em the ropes of what we do exactly and what to do."
Before anything was said, Naruto looked at the four and said, "Meet me on the roof at midnight for…initiation."
Everyone watched Naruto and Kichi walking up the stairs as Junpei asked, "Initiation?"
11:59.57
11:59.58
11:59.59
12:00.00
[Dark Hour]
The Dark Hour had arrived as Naruto and Kichi were standing before Yukari, Junpei, Minato, and Kotone with Mitsuru and Akihiko on the side.
"Alright," Naruto began as he motioned to the foam weapons and the toy bow with suction darts, "before you do ANYTHING involving with what we do, you have to be ready for what you're about to face."
"Question," Junpei said as he pointed at the foam weapons that seemed to be dripping a red liquid, "What's with the toys?"
Naruto answered Junpei's question with a smirk and a chuckle as he said, "In order to learn how to fight against the Shadows, you all are going to fight me so that you can understand what we are dealing with. And so that no one will get too badly injured, all of you will be using weapons that will mark your hits with red paint, with the exception of the toy bow which uses suction darts, and I will only use my bare hands. Mitsuru will provide backup and support with her Persona as you fight me. Your mission is to defeat me using your Personas and the weapons provided to you. You are also to come at me with the intent to kill as Shadows will hold nothing back."
Kichi then walked in front of Naruto as the blond then said, "Also as a little incentive…whoever can catch Kichi will be declared the leader of our team. A little warning though, she is pretty fast and I WILL protect her with everything I got."
"Wh-What if we don't want to fight you?" Yukari hesitantly asked before getting a small glare from Naruto.
"If you don't fight…" the blond said with a cold and serious face, "…then we will have no choice as to boot you out of the dorm without remorse."
The blond hid a chuckle at the panicked look on the four teens' faces as only Mitsuru and Ikutsuki could only do such actions. He just wanted to mess with them.
"Now then…" Naruto said as he got into a battle stance as the others quickly grabbed their weapon of choice and got into their own battle stances, "BEGIN!"
Junpei quickly rushed in with the large foam katana and swung the weapon with a mighty heave. Naruto ducked into a roll before giving the hat wearing teen a sharp punch to the gut, knocking Junpei as few feet back.
"A katana," Naruto said as he saw Junpei get up, "a powerful and devastating weapon, but very slow and heavy because of its size. You really have to be careful if you trip up while attacking your opponents. Of course, your stance is a bit brutish since you're holding the katana like a baseball bat."
The blond quickly dodged another attack from Junpei before tripping the teen flat onto his fact while Kichi easily jumped onto his back with an unimpressed look on her face before she saw Kotone.
"Kit!" the fox cried out, "Behind you!"
Naruto quickly rolled to the side to avoid a diagonal slash from the girl as the foam blade of her weapon of choice made a paint splatter on the spot where the blond was before.
"A spear," Naruto said as he quickly studied the girl, "Decent range and attack…not a bad choice as you provide yourself with a small safe zone. However…"
The blond quickly dashed right in front of Kotone and said, "…you can't do much if the blade doesn't hit and your enemy gets into your safe zone."
Seeing Yukari aim a suction dart at him, Naruto grabbed the girl before him and placed her in between him and Yukari just as the dart was let loose. The dart had hit Kotone in the back and was stuck on her as Naruto then shoved her into Yukari.
"You couldn't make it any MORE obvious, Yukari?" Naruto taunted as he quickly dodged an attack from Junpei by twisting around him and pushing him to the side, "While bow and arrows are useful for hard to hit and flying enemies, you really have to be quick and careful with each shot as your only allowed a certain amount of time and one shot before the enemy can get to you."
Yukari was about to load another dart before it was quickly snatched away by Kichi as the fox took the dart away with her mouth, allowing Naruto the opportunity to get in close and throw Yukari to the side and into Kotone.
"This is actually quite fun!" Kichi said as she dropped the dart and jumped away when Junpei slid on the roof in an attempt to grab her, "Should have figured something like this years ago!"
Naruto flashed a quick smirk before having to dodge a flurry of attacks from Minato as the blunette tried to rush him.
"Always a classic," Naruto said as he gave Minato a quick Judo throw into Junpei, "a sword has average range and attack and is much faster than a spear and katana. Perfectly balanced if I do say so myself, just mind those who are quicker than you."
Naruto looked as Minato and Junpei got to their feet while Yukari and Kotone were standing next to them.
"How about we make this interesting…" Naruto said as he pulled out his Evoker and pointed it at his head, "Persona: Titan!"
*BANG! shatter!*
The others watched as a giant wearing Greek battle armor and wielding a sword appeared out of thin air and cracked its neck.
"Oh yeah!" Junpei said as he pulled out his Evoker and pointed it at his head, "Two can play at that game!"
The teen tried to pull the trigger, but he suddenly froze as something was holding him back.
"Kill Rush!" Naruto ordered as Titan obeyed by giving a powerful punch to Junpei before following the attack with a kick that sent Junpei a few feet away.
"NEVER HESITATE!" Naruto roared as he summoned Titan again and used the same attack on Minato, "Hesitation in a battle against the Shadows will cost you dearly!"
Acting quickly, bluenette had summoned Orpheus to block the first attack before receiving the following attack as Titan had used a roundhouse kick to get around the lute that Orpheus used as a shield.
"Not bad," Naruto said as Minato fell back a few feet before getting back on his feet, "You weren't even shaken with a gun pointed at your head. Just remember to know what you're wanting to do as Personas have abilities that can allow you to combat the Shadows."
The blond quickly avoided an attack by Kotone before throwing her towards Minato, causing the two to crash into each other, and said, "Come on; I know you can do better than that if what last week had shown! You need to use whatever advantage you have against the Shadows if you want to defeat them!"
Getting the message, Minato turned to Mitsuru and said, "Senpai, I need you to see if Naruto has any weaknesses!"
The red head smirked as one of them had gotten her cousin's message and summoned a woman wearing a dark blue high collared shirt under an armored corset and an iron mask wielding a dagger and a rapier in both hands.
"Give me some time while I analyze the enemy with Penthesilea," Mitsuru said as her Persona crossed her blades. She already knew Naruto's weakness when he was using Titan, but she knew that Naruto wanted her to treat this little session as a real battle.
Naruto smirked as he used Junpei to shield himself from Yukari's arrows before he then said, "Good move on having Mitsuru over there trying to find my weakness, but I have another little surprise for you."
Naruto pushed Junpei away as he drew out his Evoker and said, "Persona: Jinn!"
The echoing shot rang out as Titan vanished before being replaced by a muscular man with a high ponytail and devilish horns wearing a red vest with the lower half of his body in the form of mist that retreated into a small lamp.
"What the hell!?" Junpei said as he looked at the new Persona, "You can change Personas!?"
"I'm just that unique," Naruto said with a smirk as he held his Evoker to his head and pointed towards Junpei, "Garu!"
Jinn took in a huge breath before letting out a gust of wind out which sent the targeted teen flying back pretty hard from the attack.
Junpei tried to get up, but the attack had seriously done a number on him as he was struggling to get to his feet.
"Be mindful of your own weaknesses," Naruto said as his Persona crossed its arms, eyes glowing venomously, "even if the attack is incredibly weak, it will still knock you down pretty badly if you're weak to it!"
"Got it!" Mitsuru said as she decided to jump in, "The enemy's weakness is Fire and Electricity. You need to use Agi or Zio skills!"
Minato smirk as Orpheus had Agi and was about to go for the attack when Naruto suddenly rush him. The bluenette jumped away before Naruto could hit him before having to dodge another attack from the blond's Persona. Naruto wasn't giving the teen the chance to use his Evoker with the pressure of his rushing attacks.
Seeing this, Kotone looked at Junpei and Yukari and quickly said, "We need to hold Naruto off so that Minato can summon his Persona!"
Yukari nodded as she knocked another arrow and aimed at Naruto while Kotone rushed towards the blonde.
Junpei was able to get to his feet and drew his Evoker as he said, "Alright, time for me to join this little game! Persona: Hermes!"
The echoing shot rang out as a figure wearing a bluish-black uniform, a helmet with wings on its side, and had a series of golden blades that looked like wings themselves as they were attached to the figure's hands and feet came rushing towards Naruto in a flying kick.
Seeing the Persona coming towards him, Naruto and Jinn jumped away as Hermes just flew right past them and off of the roof and into the street below.
"Nice one," the blond said as he and his Persona gave each other a fist bump before something smack Naruto in the back, causing him to stumble forward.
Naruto quickly leapt onto his feet and felt the paint on his back and smirked at the lone hit he had received.
Looks like they're starting to get the idea, Naruto thought before a shot echoed into the night as a blast of fire knocked him back into a painful roll. The blond cursed at himself for forgetting about Minato and Orpheus as Kotone's and Junpei's attacks had distracted him long enough for the bluenette to have his Persona use a fire skill.
"Everyone!" Minato and Kotone roared at the same time, "All-Out Attack!"
Naruto couldn't defend himself properly as Minato's attack had done its job of weakening him despite how strong Jinn was.
The flurry of attacks stopped as Naruto leapt back in a series of backflips to reveal that he was covered in a good bit of paint and darts.
"So…" Naruto said as he tightened his fist to a point that a small audible crack was heard from them, "…that's how you want to play it, huh?"
The four teens tightened their grips on their weapons while Minato was preparing for another attack with Orpheus as the look Naruto was giving them had signaled to them that he was going to throw something at them.
"Guess it's time to let you know just what I thought about that little stunt of yours." Naruto said with a venomous tone in his voice as he bared his slightly elongated canines in a threatening manner.
The teens had to try and suppress the shiver down their spines before the dark hour had ended as the world had gone back to normal with the normal city sound going on as if nothing had happened.
"I'll tell you what I thought about that cheap tactic you pulled on me!" Naruto said before he changed his threatening demeanor to a relaxed and less serious attitude, "You all passed."
"Huh?" the four teens asked incredulously as they stare at the blond who was just laughing at the slapped looks on their faces.
This is going to be good...
Guess Naruto surprised everyone at the initiation. What will happen to the team afterwards?
I couldn't help but have Naruto do the same thing Kakashi had done, but I wanted our favorite blond to have it used in an actual battle with the All-Out Attack.
Don't forget to rate and review!
Ja ne.