I do not own Naruto or the Persona Series.

"Persona!" normal speech

"Persona!" thought/mind speak

"DIE!" Demon/Shadow speak

Chapter IV

*Gekkoukan High*

Naruto had just gotten out of the locker room showers after getting dressed in his school uniform. Kendo had just ended as the blond began to venture out of the school and towards the dormitory, while avoiding the Namikaze Fan Club at the same time. The fan club had nice girls, but Naruto was scared of them at times considering how rabid they can be, especially against the Sanada Fan Club.

"Greetings, Naruto-kun," said Fuuka as she was at her locker when she saw Naruto, "how are you?"

"Alright." Naruto answered as he gave his sports bag a heft onto his shoulder, "Just got done with Kendo and I'm heading back to the dorms. Care to join me?"

Fuuka nodded as walked alongside the blond, unaware of someone watching them with their cellphone out.

"This will make some good material," the person chuckled to herself as she looked at the picture she got with her phone, "although I hate to bring Naruto into this, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

*Monorail*

Naruto and Fuuka were sitting at one of the seats, watching the world pass by them as they rode the train.

"So how are Arisato-san and Shione-san?" Fuuka asked as she looked at Naruto, "I heard that they had suddenly passed out sometime ago. Is something wrong with them?"

"Just some really bad fatigue." Naruto answered as he looked at Fuuka, "They're fine, although Minato could be narcoleptic with how he looks and acts."

The blond couldn't help but think that was true sometimes as some of the students had said that the bluenette had been seen sleeping in class, but the guy was a freaking genius when the teachers would ask him a question.

Minato and Kotone have definitely improved during the past few weeks, Naruto thought as he remembered some of the trips into Tartarus and just how much stronger everyone has gotten. With just how fast the two leaders were getting more stronger and the number of different Personas they could possess completely amazed the blond and Kichi to no end.

"Hey Naruto-kun," Fuuka said, snapping the blond out of his thoughts, "I couldn't help but notice you were in a good mood last night."

Naruto chuckled as he said, "I was just taking in the feeling of being free since Uncle Takeharu took me in when the Kirijo Group found me."

"It must be something to live with the Kirijo Group." Fuuka said as she carefully scooted closer to the blond, "What's it like?"

"Eh…" Naruto answered casually with a shrug of his shoulders, "I'm not really into all that 'upper class' thing as it just feels weird to have people treat me different because I'm a relative. That's why I'm just so casual when I'm talking to Mitsuru, Uncle Takeharu, or any of the servants; all that fancy stuff doesn't feel right to me."

Naruto then looked at Fuuka with a playful smirk and said, "Your hair's really nice since it frames that cute face of yours."

The young girl blush brightly as she thought, He said I'm cute! What do I do!? What do I do!?

"I…uh…" Fuuka said as she stumbled on her words, "Thanks. You're really handsome as well with those whisker marks on your face."

"Thanks," Naruto said with a nervous chuckle, "although to be honest, these things get me into trouble with my fan club."

"Fan club?" Fuuka asked with a small hint of disappointment.

"Yeah," Naruto said as he leaned back in the seat with his arms behind his head, "one look and they just swoon into each other's arms. I'd hate to imagine if they ever saw me shirtless."

A sudden bump from a random person caused Fuuka to fall into Naruto's chest while said blond's arms suddenly found themselves around the young girl. Looking at each other, the two of them felt warmth crawling up onto their faces as they saw a blush form on their cheeks.

Holy crap! Naruto thought as he looked in Fuuka's eyes as they shone with wonder, She's…beautiful!

Oh my god! Fuuka thought as she got lost in Naruto's shining blue eyes, His eyes are like looking at a sea of sapphires!

*ding!*

The monorail's bell snapped the two out of their thoughts as they let go of each other and stood up to leave the train. They both remained silent as their minds were still on that little accident.

*Iwatodai Station*

The duo had finally made it to the bottom of the stairs as Naruto nervously asked, "Do…Do you want something t-to eat…Fuuka-chan?"

"I'm alright." Fuuka answered quickly as a bright blush was on her face, "I…I just remembered that I had to…go…get stuff as my mother was going to make dinner tonight. Yeah! She would be really mad if we had to eat out again."

Naruto watched the baby blue-haired girl leave just as quickly and awkwardly before heading towards the dorm himself.

What the freaking hell was THAT!? Naruto asked himself as he still felt odd at how he and Fuuka were looking at each other back on the monorail, That little accident…that small bump…What in Kami's name was that!?

*klong!*

The blond stumbled back and held his throbbing face as he looked to see that he had just walked right into a lamppost.

"Smooth, Namikaze," Naruto scolded himself as he lightly shook the cobwebs out of his head, "real smooth."

Naruto continued to walk towards the dorm, avoiding any more lampposts or metal poles, while he still couldn't help but think about his cute classmate.

Her hair really brings out her beautiful eyes…

*Dorm*

Naruto, now sporting a bandage over the bridge of his nose, was in his room looking over his studies when Kichi got up from her bed and jumped onto Naruto's.

"You know you're not supposed to be on the beds, Kichi." Naruto said bluntly without even looking up from the textbook.

"Oh please Kit," Kichi said she placed her front paws on the bed post near the desk, "I know when something's on your mind and I know you didn't get that bandage because you wanted to look tough."

Naruto growled a bit as he then said, "I walked into a metal pole while…"

The blond mumbled the rest as Kichi's ear twitched, getting some of what was said.

"What was that last part Kit?" the fox teased with a smirk on her face, "You mumbled that last bit. I think I heard…"

"I was thinking about a girl, alright!" Naruto angrily said as he forcefully leaned back on his chair and looked away from both the book on the desk and Kichi.

"Ooh I knew my little kit had his eyes on a future mate!" Kichi sung as she sat back down on the bed, "So when am I getting grandkits?"

"K-Kichi!" Naruto said as his attitude quickly shifted from anger to embarrassment, "That's a bit too soon a-a-and it was just an accident that caused Fuuka-chan and I to fall into each other's arms on the monorail!"

"Ah, young love." Kichi sighed as she smiled dreamily, "oh how I envy my own Kit for finding his princess. Oh I would have loved to meet my own Prince Charming…"

Naruto then saw the fox's face take on a darker tone as Kichi then said, "…if it wasn't for that manipulative asshole and his god-complex!"

Naruto went back to his studies until Kichi said, "I think something's coming Kit."

Naruto closed the book as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"You had to have felt it," Kichi said as she decided to jump on the desk with cat-like agility as to prevent knocking anything down, "especially on that night when Minato and Kotone had first awakened their Personas."

"You mean that funny feeling?" Naruto asked as he had forgotten about it until the fox brought it up.

"Yes." Kichi plainly said as she sat down, "I think something might happen soon…but I can't tell just what it is."

"Maybe it's just coincidence?" Naruto asked with a questioning look on his face.

"Coincidences do not allow ordinary HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS to summon death gods on the first go!" Kichi said as her fur briefly bristled before she calmed down, "No one ever just does that right after awakening their power, it doesn't really work like that."

Looking at the time, Naruto got up from his desk and said, "Who knows what this is really about, but I think we should get some rest. Might have to pay a visit to Tartarus later in the week as Yukari wasn't feeling too well. Good night Kichi."

Naruto stripped down to his boxers and got under his covers after turning the lights off while Kichi remained on the desk as she watched the young teen turn in for the night.

She waited until she heard the blond beginning to snore, signaling that he was deeply asleep.

Kichi jumped down onto the floor from the desk before jumping back onto the bed and walked towards Naruto's face. Once near the blond's sleeping face, the fox gently rubbed the side of her head against Naruto's whiskered cheek before giving it a small lick.

"Good night," said Kichi as she turned and jumped off the bed before laying down on her little bed next to the television stand, "my little kit."

11:59.57

11:59.58

11:59.59

12:00.00

[Dark Hour]

A few days had passed as Mitsuru was in the command room tinkering with some of the equipment that was provided to help with her supportive powers. Her face was solemn as she let out an agitated sigh.

"Still messing with that thing?" said a voice as Mitsuru looked up to see Naruto in his school uniform after Kendo practice with Akihiko following him, "Why not get some rest."

"I could say the same to you, Namikaze." Mitsuru countered as she looked at the small box before her, "You never know when the enemy might appear."

"I thought you couldn't scan outside Tartarus?" Akihiko asked with a confused look on his face.

Mitsuru delicately grabbed her arms and said, "To be honest…I lack the power. Maybe this is the best Penthesilea can do in terms of gathering data."

"Maybe…" Naruto said as he crossed his arms, "The power of Persona is much more broader than what anyone could imagine. Counting myself, we have three people who can change Personas at any given time and while mine is limited to Jinn, Titan, and Phoenix, Minato and Kotone both have much more power than even I could imagine."

"There's something special about those two," Mitsuru said to herself, "and it hasn't been long since they both awakened their power and look at how much stronger Arisato and Shione have grown!"

"I'll admit that I was surprised as well," Akihiko said with a smirk, "but it'll be up to them if they reach their full potential."

I can only wonder just HOW strong those two will get, Naruto thought to himself as his cousin went to work on the device before something had alarmed her.

Mitsuru looked at the device and said, "It's a Shadow!"

"What!?" both Naruto and Akihiko said as they rushed towards the young woman.

"Something's not right…" Mitsuru said as she carefully examined the evidence, "the reading is too big…"

Naruto had a gut feeling about what this could be as he had that strange feeling all day…that same strange feeling when Minato and Kotone had first awakened their power.

"It's one of those!?" Akihiko asked before receiving a nod from Mitsuru, causing a smirk to form on the boxer's face, "Well then, this is gonna be fun!"

"I'll wake the others." Naruto said as he approached the console and pressed the alarm, causing a loud and obnoxious sound to blare out through the dorm.

A few minutes had passed until Minato, Yukari, Junpei, and Kotone entered with Kichi following them before the fox ran towards Naruto.

"We're here!" Yukari said as she and the others were wearing their school clothes and gear.

Junpei tightened his fist and entered into a stance as he said, "Where is it! I'll rip it a new one!"

"Easy there Junpei," Naruto said as he held up a hand, "no need to go all gung-ho right from the get-go."

Mitsuru looked at the team as she said, "We've detected a Shadow outside Tartarus. We're unsure about it, but we believe it to be a big one."

"Big one or not," Naruto interjected with a serious tone, "any Shadows outside Tartarus must be dealt with as soon as possible. No one, save for our group and a rare few, know about the Dark Hour and if anything happens to the city during it, there will be mass chaos and confusion."

"That must be avoided at all costs." Mitsuru said with a heavy feeling of reality hanging in the air.

"In other words…" Junpei said with a smirk as he pounded a fist into his hand, "we need to kick some ass!"

Reckless idiot, Naruto thought with a slight scowl on his face, doesn't even understand the amount of danger the city is in each night. But then again…

The blond couldn't help but think back to how he had acted back in Konoha; Naruto would just dive head first into any possible danger to not just himself, but to others, thinking that he could handle anything thrown at him.

Of course that was then…

"Don't worry Kit," Kichi said as she approached Naruto, "I'm sure that he'll get that wake-up slap soon."

Better sooner than when others are dead, Naruto thought as he and Kichi left with the rookies while Mitsuru went to get her support gear ready.

*Iwatodai Station*

Yukari, Kotone, Minato, and Junpei were waiting at the stairs while Naruto was looking towards the inoperable escalators.

"Where is she?" Yukari asked with an uncomfortable look on her face.

"She'll be here soon." Naruto said as Kichi climbed down the stairs and walked towards the blond, just in time for Mitsuru to arrive on her motorcycle.

"I sniffed out the area to find a group of Shadows near the train." the fox said as she sat down, "I'd bet a tail that they planned an ambush."

"What do you mean 'planned'?" Naruto asked with an eyebrow raised, "I thought Shadows acted out on instinct."

"That's because something is somehow guiding them." Kichi said as Mitsuru went over a few details with the rookies, "What is guiding them, I'm unsure, but I was able to get a scent on a larger and stronger Shadow that seems to stand out like the others…an Alpha Shadow you could call it."

"You mean something like a wolf pack?" the blond asked, receiving a nod from the fox, "How does that even work?"

"One can only theorize it," Kichi said as she moved her tail to the side, "but it could be that the weaker Shadows are being commanded by the larger Shadow due to just how strong it is. I wouldn't be surprised if the stronger Shadow even had a subconscious of its own and could talk like you and I."

Seeing the rookies head toward him, Naruto was about to join them when Mitsuru said, "Let them go on their own this time."

"I'm not sure if that's wise cousin." Naruto said as he turned to face his red-haired cousin, "I had Kichi take a look around and there's more than one Shadow. They're smaller Shadows, but they're acting oddly…like that larger Shadow you detected is leading them."

Mitsuru let out a small hum in thought before she said, "In any case, I think that they could use some experience on their own and if there are other Shadows around, you can defend me as I will be unable to support them while fighting off any Shadows that decide to target me."

Letting out a sigh, Naruto reluctantly nodded in agreement as no one else could provide support if Mitsuru was unable to. He didn't like it as the rookies were still too green despite some of the stronger Shadows they had faced in Tartarus, but what good is a combat team if you have no one to provide support?

"If it makes you feel better," Kichi said as she stood up on her paws, "I can go with them Kit."

"No Kichi," Naruto said as he kneeled down and rubbed the side of the vixen's head behind her left ear, "you're too important to me and I'm not willing to give you up just yet."

Nor would you be able to, Kichi thought as Mitsuru summoned her Persona in order to support the rookies.

A few minutes had passed as Naruto was getting a bit impatient and concerned with how things were going at the moment.

"They just made it on the train." Mitsuru said as her voice broke the silence, "There are some cars between them and that larger Shadow."

"I still think that I should have gone with them…" Naruto mumbled beneath his breath until a small commotion was heard over the radio.

"What's wrong?" Mitsuru asked with professional concern, "What happened?"

Yukari's voice came over the radio as the girl said, "It looks like we're trapped inside…"

"It must be the Shadow," the red-haired woman said, ignoring a threatening glare from her cousin, "it knows you're there. Be ready for anything! Proceed with extreme caution!"

A quick acknowledging word from Yukari echoed from the radio as Mitsuru then faced Naruto, who had his arms crossed as his still hat that same glare on his face.

"I told you that I should have gone with them!" Naruto said before he and Kichi turned around towards the stairs, "Now I'm going to go save their asses before…"

A small group of four Shadows poured from the stairs and surrounded the trio and began to move around them like predators.

"…something like this happens." Naruto said as he pulled out his katana while Mitsuru pulled out a rapier as she got into a fencing stance.

A scale-shaped Shadow started the attack by jumping into the air and charged towards Mitsuru, but it was quickly deflected skillfully by said young woman. Another Shadow, shaped like a table, then tried to attack the Kirijo woman, but was intercepted by Naruto with a powerful katana slash. The blond then slashed at the scale-shaped Shadow with a combo that started with an overhead swing that led into a horizontal slash and finished when Naruto leapt into the air with a twist before slicing the Shadow vertically in half.

"One down…" Naruto said a Mitsuru easily destroyed another scale-shaped Shadow without much difficulties until a startled sound erupted from the radio.

"Namikaze!" Mitsuru called out as she summoned her Persona, right when the table-shaped Shadow charged towards her.

"On it!" Naruto said as he quickly got in the path of the Shadow and blocked its attack and pushed it back.

Pulling out his Evoker, the blond pulled the trigger as he called out, "Persona: Phoenix!"

*BANG! shatter!*

The gunshot echoed as a large bird with fiery red and orange feathers appeared above Naruto and Mitsuru.

"Agilao!" the blond called out as Phoenix drew its wings back with flames gathering around them before giving them a mighty heave. The flames flew towards the table-shaped Shadow and easily destroyed it.

"This is bad…" Mitsuru said as Naruto destroyed another attacking Shadow with a combo attack, "…the Shadow has taken fully control over the monorail and has set it in motion!"

"WHAT!?" Naruto yelled out at the speculation, "If that thing's on the move, it will collide into another train and kill not only Yukari, Junpei, Minato, and Kotone, but many others as well! We need to get our asses moving!"

Before another step was taken, more Shadows appeared right at the stairs in order to intercept the group.

"Fucking shit!" Naruto cursed out with a stomp before one of the scale-shaped Shadows charged him.

Clutching his hand into a fist tightly, causing a small crack to be heard from his knuckles, Naruto charged towards the Shadow and gave it a mighty bone-shattering punch as he said, "Get the FUCK out of MY way!"

The blond's punch had hit the Shadow in the mask before the force of the punch had launched it into the group of Shadows, impaling a few of them along the way and caused them to vanish into a black mist before vanishing itself. A Shadow with long flowing black hair wearing what looked like a small crown or tiara then charged towards the blond along with a table-shaped Shadow, but Naruto just grabbed the tiara-like Shadow and slammed it against the other Shadow.

"Naruto, calm down!" Kichi barked out as she hopped on the blond's shoulder.

"I told Mitsuru about a possible ambush on the rookies and what does she do?" Naruto angrily whispered as he defeated another Shadow with a sword combo, "She makes me stay here wanting to take the training wheels off before those guys were even ready!"

"I know Kit, but this is a REAL mission outside of Tartarus!" the vixen said as she gave a Shadow a dropkick before jumping back to Naruto, "We can't hold their hands all the time so they need to experience a rush of possible death in order to be aware of what could happen!"

Naruto cringed as he had Phoenix destroy the last Shadow with a powerful gust of wind before he said, "You're right Kichi, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I need to have more faith in them as I'm sure Minato and Kotone have everything under control."

*Monorail*

The rookies were facing down a powerful Shadow that took on the form of a young woman with long parchment-like hair that covered nearly all of the first car wearing a long baby blue skirt and a pinkish-red butterfly-shaped mask. Her skin color was actually divided vertically with her right side being black as night while her left side was snow white with the letters 'B' and 'J' on her exposed breasts.

"Alright we got her on the ropes!" Kotone said as she and the others were breathing heavily from having to not only fight her, but the smaller Shadows that it was summoning.

"This would have been a helluva lot easier if Naruto was here!" Yukari said as she summoned her Persona, Io, to hit the Shadow with a wind attack.

Minato quickly summoned Orpheus and used a fire attack on the large Shadow before he said, "We need to keep our heads in the battle as we can't afford to hesitate!"

"Wisely spoken for a Fool," said the Shadow with a playful smirk on her face, "but why think when you can just act!"

Minato and Kotone jumped back in time as the Shadow unceremoniously slammed her hand on the floor. Yukari and Junpei weren't as lucky as they were soon entangled against the wall by the parchment-like hair.

"If you are wondering how I was able to get the train to move, the answer is really just simple," the Shadow said playfully, "I just messed around with the controls, pressing and pulling random crap on them. Now then…any last words?"

"Yeah…" Minato said as he gave Kotone a look before the two of them stood confidently with their Evokers pointed at their heads.

*BANG! shatter!*

Orpheus and Siren appeared above Minato and Kotone as the two then said, "Battle Concerto!"

Orpheus pulled out his lute and began to play at a powerful and upbeat tone while the speaker on his mechanical stomach blasted out war-like beats. Siren adjusted the microphone on her headset as she began to sing a fast paced song in an archaic language unknown to man. The sounds echoed out through the car while an invigorating rush of energy entered the SEES members' bodies.

"Alright!" Junpei called out as the rush of power had allowed him to tear the parchment-like hair of himself and Yukari, "A second wind!"

The reinvigorated team then turned their attention back onto the Shadow as Yukari drew her bow back with an arrow nocked.

"I don't think so!" the Shadow roared out as it summoned two more Shadows that charged towards the girl, but they were intercepted by Junpei and Minato.

"Here goes!" Yukari said as she let the bow string go, sending the arrow flying straight towards the Shadow's face.

*shhhhhhwip!*

The Shadow had somehow caught Yukari's arrow and began to playfully twirl it like a baton as she said, "You think I wouldn't know how to catch, let alone dodge an arrow, did y-"

*skwelch!*

"Ugh!" the Shadow choked out as black ichor was spat from her mouth. The humanoid looked down to see Kotone with her naginata stabbed right into its chest as the black ichor dripped from the blade and stained the blue skirt below.

"Next time…" Kotone said with a smirk of her own, "…don't leave yourself so exposed; it sets a bad example for us decent girls."

The young girl pulled the naginata from the Shadow's chest, causing black ichor to spray about, before going into a twist and decapitated the humanoid creature.

"Lord Death…" the Shadow weakly said as it was slowly vanishing into a black mist, "…I'm…coming for…you…"

The Shadow had fully dissolved into black mist as Junpei held a fist in the air in victory as he said, "Alright! We won! We freakin' did it!"

"Yeah…" Yukari said as she then pointed out one other detail that the hat wearing teen had forgotten, "…but we're still moving!"

Reality suddenly sank in as both Junpei and Yukari suddenly screamed in pure fright and panic, holding each other for dear life.

"What are you waiting for!?" Mitsuru asked in urgency from the radio.

"THERE'S A FUCKING TRAIN AHEAD OF YOU!" Naruto's voice roared out as Junpei and Yukari were still screaming for dear life until Minato and Kotone ran into the conductor's car.

*screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!*

Junpei and Yukari were still screaming until the young girl in pink opened her eyes and noticed that the train had somehow stopped and they were alive.

"Junpei. Junpei." Yukari said as she tried to get said teen's attention before…

*SMACK!*

"Junpei!" Yukari roared out as said teen had let go of her in favor of holding his now reddened cheek, "The train had stopped!"

The teen blinked a few times before a large, beaming smile formed on his face like a small child seeing a mountain of toys on Christmas Day.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Freaking YES!" the teen cheered as he jumped for joy before posing in an obscene gesture, "Suck it death!"

The moment had passed as Junpei suddenly fell on the floor, passed out and frothing from the mouth as the adrenaline rush left him while Minato and Kotone left the conductor's car.

"How did you two know what to do?" Yukari asked the duo as Minato hefted the unconscious Junpei onto his shoulder.

"Instinct." both Minato and Kotone answered in unison.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Yukari then said, "That's twice you both saved me again. Now can we get out of here, this train's giving me the creeps."

*Iwatodai Station*

The rookies had managed to make it back to the station after a long trek across the track with Junpei still slung over Minato's shoulder.

"Very good job at destroying the Shadow and preventing a collision." Mitsuru said as she and Naruto approached the rookies before the young woman noticed the unconscious teen, "What happened to Iori?"

"He's just passed out Senpai." Yukari answered with a pained chuckled, "In fact, I'm pretty sore myself as each step felt like walking on needles."

"Probably because of mine and Mina-kun's combo, Battle Concerto." Kotone said as her body was also sore, "The music from Orpheus and Siren had given us a powerful boost…but it didn't last long and we're feeling flayed right now."

"You both had a combo like that?" Naruto asked as he had never seen the duo perform the combo during their trips to Tartarus, "How did you know it would work?"

"Spur of the moment." Minato and Kotone answered at the same time, causing Naruto to sweat drop at the answer.

Again with the Psychic Twin thing? Kichi thought with a deadpanned look on her face, Is this going to be a running gag or something? They're not even related!

"Anyway," Naruto said as he looked at the rookies and saw the state that they were in, "seeing how your bodies reacted to that combo, I'm only going to suggest that Battle Concerto is to be used in emergency situations like tonight was. Now let's get back to the dorm as I'm sure we all could use a little rest after everything that has happened tonight."

"I couldn't agree more, Kit." Kichi said as she and the rest of SEES headed towards the dorm with Naruto helping Minato with carrying Junpei. However, the vixen's mind became heavy as something had been plaguing her thoughts since the night Minato and Kotone had awakened their powers.

What's going on here?

Will Kichi's question be answered as SEES continue to fight the Shadows? What awaits the group down the road?

Now to answer a couple of questions that you might be thinking of...

I added that bit about the Alpha Shadow as if you look back at the game, Mitsuru only mentions a really big Shadow and not any of the weaker ones. How did the team exactly get ambushed if only one Shadow was detected? With what Kichi explained about the Alpha Shadow is what I'd like to believe how the ambush on the train happened. Sometimes you focus all of your attention on the larger threat that you really don't see the smaller threats building up against you.

As for Naruto's little power boost, I'm leaving that a secret but there will be hints throughout as to why this is possible if Naruto's chakra was sealed. I'll go ahead and tell you that unless Naruto's not at school or it's during the Dark Hour, Kichi will never leave the blond's side.

Don't forget to rate and review!

Ja ne.