I do not own Naruto or the Persona series.

"Persona!" normal speech

"Persona!" thought/mind speak

"Persona!" demon/Shadow speech

Chapter VI

*Gekkoukan High*

Classes have ended as Naruto was in the 'arena' of the gym as he was going up against one of his teammates.

"So Captain," said the young boy as he and Naruto circled each other, "did you hear about that girl they found at the front gates a few days ago?"

The blond let out a mighty roar that followed with the attack, which was swiftly blocked, before he said, "Who hasn't heard of it? I have heard that she was part of a group of bullies who targeted someone. While a part of me is hoping she got her just desserts, I'm mostly concerned about what exactly had happened to her considering what's been going on this past year."

After trying for a swift combo, which was effectively blocked by Naruto, the teammate then said, "I know…I'm wondering if she'll end up like some of those Apathy freaks…like my sister."

"Sorry to hear that man…" Naruto said as he and his opponent stood before each other, waiting for either to make a move, "I can only imagine what the feeling's like considering that I was an orphan until Uncle Takeharu took me in."

The blond swiftly blocked an overhead attack as his opponent then asked, "How is it that you're so casual when it comes to your uncle and Senpai? I've never seen you act like them."

Naruto swiftly moved to the side, causing his opponent to slightly stumble forward, before…

*swack!*

The coach called the match as the duo removed their helmets, revealing their damp faces and hair.

"You were focusing on too much power with that last attack which caused you to stumble from how your stance was." Naruto said as he and his teammate went over to the sidelines while two other members of the Kendo Club took their turns, "Now to answer your question, before I had discovered that I was related to the Kirijo group through my mother, I never did show a lot of respect to others, but that was because I was never taught better considering the kind of urchin that others had believed me to be. After Uncle Takeharu took me in, everyone was treating me like royalty…just like how this one teme I knew was treated. After a while, I just told the servants to not give me any special treatment and to address me by my name…I was uncomfortable with being treated like a god. As for Mitsuru and Uncle Takeharu…they're my family and the only family aside from my mother that I know."

"Wow." Naruto's teammate said until a question appeared on his mind, "So what was your mother like?"

"I really don't know, honestly." Naruto answered with slight somber tone, "I sometimes wish that I could have met her or even my aunt."

The young brunette cringed as he then said, "Sorry, man…I didn't know."

"It's alright." the blond said as a small smile formed on his face, "Least I have my uncle and cousin."

*Dorm*

Naruto had just made it back to the dorm after some extra training and a karaoke session to see Yukari working tenaciously at the computer near the front desk.

"What I miss?" Naruto asked Mitsuru as said woman was sitting in the nearby couch with Kichi laying down near her feet.

"Takeba and the others are investigating a supposed rumor involving our school," Mitsuru answered as she turned the page of her book, "and it involves your homeroom."

"Really now?" Naruto said as he took a sip of his Cielo Mist, "I've never heard anything save for that girl they had found. I never listen to rumors as they're just a bunch of bull that constantly changes from one person to another."

"They have until this Friday to find information on this ghost story." Akahiko said as he was looking over a pair of his boxing gloves, "Do you think they'll find anything."

Naruto hummed as he knew someone who could have dirt on possibly anything before he said, "Possibly…either that or they could end up chasing their tails in an endless circle."

"I know who you're thinking about Kit," Kichi said with a content smile on her face, "and I hope he has some of that juicy salmon; he always find the best cuts."

"In any case," Mitsuru said as she marked her place and closed the novel, "it might do some good as the incident could possibly be related to the Shadows. We'll just wait to see what they come up with on their deadline."

That's not too far away, Naruto thought as something was telling him that help might become a must, I should remind myself to go visit him before something bad happens.

*Gekkoukan High*

Lunch had arrive as Naruto was walking towards his locker for a bloxed lunch he had made the day before, but something has been bugging him fiercely.

Fuuka hasn't been seen in quite a while…

At first Naruto thought it was illness, but when he had asked Fuuka's parents, they has said that she just wasn't around at the moment. But Kichi was with him that day and the vixen revealed that they were hiding something…something important.

What could it be? Naruto thought to himself as he climbed the stair to find Yukari waiting for him.

"Hey Naruto," the girl said as she approached him, "can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." the bond said with a shrug of his shoulders, "What do you want to talk about?"

"About that ghost story." Yukari answered as she pulled out a notebook that had a web-like diagram written on it, "Do you know anything about the girl found at the school gates?"

"The latest I've heard was that she was part of a group of bullies." Naruto said with a slight scowl on his face, "Probably one of the ones who get a sick kick out of messing with others that are 'smaller' than them or just to fuck with them."

After scribbling something on her notebook, Yukari then asked, "Do you know anything else about her?"

The blond was silent until he remembered something and said, "I do remember her hanging out with my ex-girlfriend, Natsuki."

"Ex-girlfriend?" Yukari asked with slight shock and ponder on her face.

"Yeah, Natsuki Moriyama," Naruto said as he remembered dating said girl, "we have the same class together along with Fuuka-chan. Our relationship was kinda short as we saw that we were more friends than lovers, but I know she's a good person…but she sometimes goes along with the wrong crowd."

Naruto grew bitterly somber as memories of what Sakura had done to him and what she had said when the blond brought Sasuke back…

Flashback

*Konohagakure; Naruto's Prison Cell*

Naruto was chained to the walls as his chakra was sealed just a day ago by Danzo.

"Why is this happening to me?" Naruto asked himself until he heard the sound of his cell door opening and looked up to see Sakura standing before him.

Before the blond could say anything, the rosette gave him a sharp and painful punch in the gut as she said, "How could you! You promised me that you would bring Sasuke-kun back and look at him! He's been beaten into a bloody mess because of YOU!"

"I…" Naruto said as a coppery taste began to form in his mouth, "I had no choice…he wouldn't listen to reason! I honestly tried to-"

*POW!*

"I don't want to hear whatever excuses a MONSTER like you could ever have!" Sakura said after giving the chained blond a jaw shattering punch, "I always knew that you didn't like Sasuke, but I didn't know that it was like THIS! I should had never made that promise to you! I hope I can never see you disgusting face again or hear that vile voice of yours anymore! You can rot in whatever part of Hell you'll be thrown into as I'm sure not even the Devil himself would want a monster like you."

After that, Sakura began to ruthlessly beat up the defenseless blond in a blind fury that Naruto had never seen before. He had lost track of time first before blacking out, but when he had regained consciousness, Naruto saw that he was a bloody and broken mess with some of his major injuries healed since was supposed to be executed soon.

They didn't want him dying too soon…

"Naruto…"

His name echoed through the halls as his vision was becoming fuzzy…

"Naruto-kun, are you alright!?"

A sharp pain entered his chest where his scar was as he couldn't reach for it due to the chains as the pain began to really flare up.

"NARUTO!"

Flashback End

*Gekkoukan High*

Naruto quickly bolt upwards and looked to find himself in one of the beds in the Nurse's Office.

"Naruto-kun!" Kotone said as she was by his bed with a worried look on her face, "You're alright!"

"Wha…" Naruto asked as he rubbed the bright light out of his eyes, "What happened?"

"You had a small panic attack," said Mr. Edogawa as he was at the desk preparing…something that didn't look edible, "You gave Yukari quite the scare a little bit ago as she said you froze for a minute and began to breathe heavily before clutching your chest. Poor girl thought you were having a heart attack with how she was screaming."

The blond let out a regretful sigh as he could have only imagined how scared Yukari was. She was only just asking questions about the rumors that were going around the school and he just HAD to have a panic attack right in front of her.

Damn PTSD, Naruto thought as his eyes finally adjusted themselves to the light until he heard the sound of the door sliding open and the familiar clacking sound of heels.

"How is he?" Mitsuru asked with authority that hid her concern.

"He's just alright, Kirijo-san," Mr. Edogawa said as he turned around in the chair to face the woman, "just had a slight panic attack. I was about to contact his homeroom teacher when Shione-san enter the door when she heard what was going on."

"I'm fine, Mitsuru…" Naruto said before he mumbled something under his breath.

"I'd let you know that you are not fine, but I do not want to risk another attack like that." Mitsuru said as she approached his bedside, "But I am going to take you back to the dorm and care for you in case."

"I-I'll be fine!" Naruto said as he pulled the blanket off of him, "What about your classes? I don't want to hold you back because of some stupid attack!"

"School can wait as my mother had always told me that family always comes first," Mitsuru countered with a slight smile on her face, "it is the Uzumaki Creed after all, Naruto."

Naruto let out a sigh through his nose as Mitsuru would rarely call him by his name unless it was something serious.

"Alright…" Naruto said as he carefully got off the bed with Kotone stand carefully nearby in case the blond needed help, "…but I need your help with something."

"If it's about Takeba, then I can have her and the others meet us after school." Mitsuru said as she gave a nod to Kotone, "Now let's get back to the dorm as I'll have Arisato or Shione get your homework from your teacher."

Naruto grumbled a bit before following his cousin through the school before both he and Mitsuru got in a limousine that was waiting outside after getting their things from their lockers.

Why did this have to happen to me? Naruto thought as the limo drove away from the school somberly.

*Dorm*

Naruto and Mitsuru were both sitting in the lounge area, waiting for everyone to come back from school considering that the Kirijo woman had sent a text to the other members of SEES of a highly important meeting that was mandatory.

"Do we really have to do this, Cuz?" the blond impatiently asked as his leg was bouncing, "You know how I really don't like bringing up MY past!"

"I'm sorry," Mitsuru said with a serious tone that hid her worry for her cousin, "but we need to discuss this with the others; it would have been brought up anyway if they had witness your attack here instead of at the school."

"Not helping…"

*YIPE!*

Kichi suddenly ran off from under Naruto's feet and towards the TV before delicately sniffing around her tail where the blond had accidentally stepped on it.

"S-sorry Kichi…" Naruto said as said vixen shot him a small glare as the door opened to reveal Yukari rushing towards Naruto.

"Naruto!" Yukari called out as she stopped before the blond, "I am so sorry about what had happened back at school. If I had known that my questions could have such a reaction to you I-"

"Yukari," Naruto said loudly in order to stop the brunette, "it's not your fault; if anyone's to blame, then it's me for not telling you guys about my condition."

A look from both Naruto and Mitsuru told everyone to take a seat on the couches as the blond then let out a sigh.

"I don't like admitting this," Naruto began with a serious tone on his face, "but I have a condition known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the reason I don't like admitting it is because people become either invasive about my condition, dancing around the real questions they want to ask, or even just not letting it drop."

"But why not?" Kotone asked with a worried tone, "PTSD is really serious and something like this could hurt you really badly in the future."

"The answer to that is because my past is completely fucked up to the point that I wouldn't even wish this fate onto any of the Shadows we have faced." Naruto answered as his fists tightened, "I had never asked for the life I was given as it was pure Hell for me. To me, the past is to STAY in the past so that I can never be bothered by it again!"

"But what about coping with it?" Yukari asked cautiously in hopes of not triggering another attack.

"I deal with it just fine," the blond answered bluntly as he crossed his arms, "between Kendo Club, SEES, and karaoke, I've never had to worry about my panic attacks as I had been able to stop them from time and again."

"But aren't you just pushing the problem away?" Junpei asked, getting a shocked look from Yukari, "Why not just face the source head-on?"

With a loud, humorless laugh, Naruto countered, "I wouldn't do that even if I could and besides…I hope that past just stays where it belongs as I want nothing to do with it or anyone from that past anymore."

Naruto then stood up from his seat and walked towards the stairs and said, "I'm going to bed since I had a very long day and I have plans tomorrow anyway, so good night."

"But-"

"Good! Night!" Naruto harshly barked out before climbing up the stairs with Kichi running from her spot near the TV and following the blond.

Once in his room and changed, Naruto went to pull his sheets to the side so he could climb in when…

*CHOMP!*

"Gyah!" Naruto cried out as he held his injured hand where Kichi had just bit him, "What was that for!?"

"That was for lashing out at your friends!" Kichi barked out as she sat on Naruto's bed and licked her chops, "They're only trying to help you!"

"I know!" Naruto said a bit harshly before letting out a regretful sigh, "I know…"

"I know you don't like thinking about the past," Kichi said as she moved over so that the blond could sit next to her, "but sometimes it is a good idea to talk to others about your problems…even if it brings up bad memories."

"That's just it!" Naruto said in confused anger, "What would I tell them, let alone just HOW to tell them! It's not like I could just say "Hey guys, fun little fact about me: I used to be a real ninja and I had an actual Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside of me since my birth!" and have them accept me right from the get-go!"

Kichi let out a sigh as she said, "While that does sound completely ridiculous, you can still get the help that you need by revealing, but also lying, about your past; just little white lies so that they can help you with what you give them."

"Takes a master trickster to know a thing about lying…" Naruto grumbled out as Kichi glared at him.

"In my defense, you were living a lie for your entire life!" the vixen harshly barked out, "Here, you have the chance of being honest with yourself about who you are and make a new start in life. You are NOT going to throw that chance away just because people have gotten a little nosy with you!"

Naruto scowled for a moment before letting out a regretful sigh and said, "Maybe you're right…but I just don't feel like talking about it to them…not just yet."

Kichi jumped down onto the floor as the blond then lay down under the bedsheets and pulled the covers over himself.

"Apart from Mitsuru and Takeharu," Kichi said as Naruto turned himself away from her, "only one person knows the truth about you and we're meeting with him tomorrow after school. You had also revealed a bit of your past to Kotone sometime after she had awakened her power."

"That last part was only because it felt fair since I had looked at her records," Naruto countered, still facing away from the vixen, "and as for him, I know I can trust him considering what we all have gone through. Now, I'm really tired and I don't want to nod off at our meeting spot. G' night."

Kichi remained silent until she walked to her little bed and curled herself into a comfortable position before falling asleep herself.

I hope for one day that you can open your heart to those who can help you Kit…

*Port Island Station; Back Alley*

After picking up Kichi when school had let out, Naruto traveled through the dark, damp alley and scanned over some of the residents in the area.

"Well, well, well," said a thuggish teen as he and a couple other ruff-looking teens walked towards the blond, "lookie what we have here: a pretty boy and a fox."

"Been too long since we roughed somebody up!" said one of the other thuggish teens with a wicked smirk on his pierced mouth, "What brings a Gekkoukan Goodie like you here to our little territory?"

"I'm here to meet some ass-fuck named Shinjiro Aragaki." Naruto boldly said as he held his stance, getting a fearful look from the three thugs before him, "That fucker has something I'm looking for and I'm not leaving until he gives me what he owes, even if I have to beat his ass to the fucking ground!"

"This guy must have a death wish to call out Aragaki like that!" one of the thugs said as he started to back away from the blond.

"I ain't sticking around to witness a murder!" said another thug as he ran away with the other teen following him.

The lone thug looked at Naruto with false bravado and said, "I-I ain't afraid of you or Aragaki! Yeah, you hear that! I ain't afraid of shit!"

"Oh really?" asked a gruff voice as from the shadows, a young man with messy brown hair and paled skin wearing a maroon peacoat, long black pants, a black beanie, and pointed boots walked into the scene, "Because it sounds like this bitch isn't the only one who has a death wish."

"Finally showed your face, ya coward!" Naruto called out in the form of a verbal challenge, causing the thug to sweat a bit from the tension.

"At least I don't act like a dick when faced with life-threatening danger!" the thuggish brunette said as his huge shoulders looked more like a wall to the smaller thug.

"What do you know about being a dick, ya freaking emo!" Naruto called out as he and the taller thug closed in on each other, making the smaller thug more uncomfortable at being between two vicious characters calling each other out for a challenge.

"You ready to die, fucker?" the brunette asked threateningly as he and Naruto were just inches away from each other.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, ya ghoul!" Naruto said with a devilish smirk on his face.

Not wanting to get maimed, the smaller thug quickly bolted away with his tail between his now stained pants and said, "I'm outta here!"

After seeing the thug's shadow vanish, laughter soon echoed throughout the alley as Naruto had to wipe the tears forming in his eyes.

"That was priceless, Shinji!" the blond said through his laughter, "I can't believe we made the guy wet himself. So much for the whole 'tough guy' act!"

The paled-skin brunette just scoffed as he said, "What do you want, Naruto? I know you didn't just come here to reignite our old name-calling contest."

Naruto's laughter slowly died down until he looked at the thug before him and said, "I need a little bit of information and a favor from you, Shinjiro."

Shinjiro took a seat on the nearby steps as he then asked, "So what is it from me?"

"It's just like I said," Naruto said as he then took a seat near the thug, "I need some information and a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Shinjiro asked defensively.

"We'll get to that later." Naruto said as Kichi climbed onto the brunette's lap and curled up against his coat, "First off, what do you know about what had happened at Gekkoukan?"

"I know about the girl that was found passed out in front of the gates?" Shinjiro answered as he reached into the inside of his coat and pulled out a piece of salmon that was wrapped in plastic wrap, "I'm guessing you're wondering if there's more behind her story?"

The blond nodded as the thuggish teen removed the wrap and gave the salmon to Kichi.

"Well," Shinjiro began as the vixen was happily eating away, "she along with a couple other girls have been hanging around here lately, bragging away about some girl that they bullied."

"What's new?" Naruto asked as he had already heard that part thanks to Yukari.

"One of those other girls was your ex, Natsuki," Shinjiro said, getting a slapped look from Naruto, "and she kept going on and on about this one specific girl that she bullied."

Seeing the blond's now tightened knuckles, the thuggish teen then said, "Before I tell you who that bullied girl was and cause you to flip out due to the you-know-what, how about you reveal to me that little favor of yours?"

Naruto calmed himself down a bit before he then said, "I have a feeling that the newest members of SEES will find themselves wondering in this craphole."

The blond handed Shinjiro his cell phone that had a picture of the SEES Rookies before he then said, "I just want you to make sure that they get out safely, but most importantly, alive without serious injuries."

"As long as you fill you end of the deal." Shinjiro said as he gave the blond a slight glare.

"I'll intercept him whenever I can and how ever I can." Naruto answered stoically, "So who was my ex-girlfriend bullying?"

Shinjiro remained silent for a moment before he reveal a name that Naruto would have never wanted to hear…

"Fuuka Yamagishi."

This doesn't sound good for both SEES and Naruto himself. What will happen from there? Don't forget to rate and review!

Ja ne.