Alright guys we back with another chapter. I know it's been a little while but no worries this will continue. Before we start I wanna say that I'm still getting questions about the pairing and I feel like a broken record at this point. End game pairing is Naruto x Sae but in the mean time he's having fun with Takemi. Hopefully that's clear enough for you. Anyways I do appreciate the feedback and those of you who leave more than one or two word reviews. Also as for the arcana I decided against the world, and went with another. Anyways with that out of the way let's get on with the chapter.
*Update 1/7/2021. Hey guys quick heads up I have started my own discord server. If any of you want to join to see what's going on with stories, what I have planned, potential stories, or just to hang out with other writers and readers I'd love for you to join. /qkPyAenve4. Hope to see you guys there.
He'd been waiting for five minutes now. After making the offer the young thieves asked for a moment to talk it over and migrated to the other living room. Most likely going over the pros and cons of his proposal. He knew they were a bit apprehensive about having to work for someone but in his opinion the pros outweigh the cons. After two more minutes the kids rejoined him.
"Well? Have you come to a decision?" Naruto asked, looking straight at Ren. Though this was a decision for the group as a whole they all seemed to acknowledge Ren as the leader.
The black haired teen leaned forward and stuck his hand out. "Deal." With that the two shook hands and unbeknownst to everyone else, the moment their hands met both men heard a voice in their heads. For Ren, he'd heard this before but Naruto was a different story.
"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 Magician Persona
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…"
Both men blinked looking at each other. The silent 'you hear that?' was understood but neither said anything. The looks on their faces told each other they did.
"That was strange" The blond thought to himself. "Alright then we're in agreement. Let me just get in contact with one of my associates really quick." He told them and pulled his phone out. As he did so the phone rang. "Oh that's him now."
"It's crazy how that happens when you're talking about someone." Ryuji commented. The older blond nodded.
"I know right? That's crazy." The group sat in place as their new boss took the call.
"Shikamaru, just the man I wanted to talk to….Uh yeah that can be arranged. Don't worry about it, I won't say anything to your wife." The group glanced at each other wondering what on earth the two could be talking about.
"Now I actually have a proposition for you that can help. You remember our adventures from high school?" The phantom thieves grew even more curious as the blond let out a laugh at whatever his friend must have told him. "What an unpleasant thing to say."
"Makoto" Ren called out while the man was explaining what was going on. The brunette looked over at him. "Do you know who this Shikamaru person is?"
"I met him once. He was the best man at my sister's wedding. He's incredibly lazy, like you wouldn't believe. According to my sister though, he has the highest IQ in the world at 235. Keep in mind to be considered a genius you need to be above 160." She explained.
"Look we need each other's help and it'll stop her from nagging you. So what do you say? Wanna team up with me?" Naruto spoke into the phone. "No we're not going in anymore. We're taking a back seat now and letting some fresh blood take care of things. Yeah I'll pay you. Don't know what good it'll do you considering how much we have but I will. Alright, thanks." With that he stuffed the phone back into his pockets and turned back to the group of teens.
"Alright we're all set. I got a couple of days to get you kids into shape. You guys got anything to do today?" He asked
"We have some homework but it can wait till later" Ren responded. Naruto didn't miss the look Makoto gave the leader for his blatant disregard for their schoolwork. Nor did he miss the poke she gave him on the side which the boy tried to pretend didn't happen.
N smirked at Makoto who lightly blushed knowing she'd been caught. Filing that away for later he continued. "Great. Then how about we start right now?" He asked rhetorically as he grabbed his phone and sent them into the metaverse.
The phantom thieves found themselves in their thief uniforms inside a giant room, it was similar in size to an entire floor of mementos. Looking out one of the windows they noticed they were inside a mansion as outside was a large pool with a water slide.
"Where are we?" Asked Morgana as he walked around.
"Inside the palace of a corrupt politician."
Ann raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry what?"
"This palace is now occupied territory. It's under my control. What I say goes. We can walk throughout the entire palace and wouldn't be attacked once unless I gave the order." He revealed shocking the group. They didn't know you could seize control of someone's palace. At that moment they all shared the same thought. They were glad he was going to be training them as clearly he had a lot more knowledge of the metaverse than they did.
"So what about the actual owner of the palace?" The fox themed thief asked.
"He's currently incapacitated. Enough about that though, we're here to train. So let's begin." He said as he summoned a large brown raccoon. The group of young thieves summoned their persona's and prepared themselves. This one didn't give off the same malevolent aura as the last one but it was still more monstrous than anything they've faced so far.
It was around four hours later that the group would leave the now occupied palace. Everyone bruised and battered from what they endured. Naruto had made them face him one on one against, to their surprise, one of his many different Persona's. He was apparently capable of summoning multiple, which had helped him counter their abilities easily. Soon after that he had them all come at him at once in an attempt to better their teamwork.
Once the battles ended, each time with their defeat they had their weaknesses explained to them and were forced to work on them after every battle. In the end none of them managed to land a solid critical damage hit but that was expected. On the bright side throughout the training session each member managed to unlock one or two new techniques for their respective persona. Their defense managed to get a little stronger, considering their only choice was get stronger or get knocked out.
"I gotta say that wasn't bad for your first day. Some minor problems each of you have that can be easily fixed over time now that you're aware of them. Also the more you train like we did today the quicker your resistance to other attributes can increase.
Seeing as you guys are barely able to stand I took the liberty of calling a ride for you." As he finished the sentence a honk was heard from right outside his door. "That's it now. You guys want to train again tomorrow or would you rather rest up?"
The teens all looked at each other briefly before nodding at their leader. He was rather impressed when they decided they'd be back to train again tomorrow. Before they headed off though Ren asked to get his contact information should he ever need to reach him.
He watched as they all cramped themselves into the small van and headed out. Going back inside he sat down at his dinner table. "That went better than expected." He murmured to himself as he checked the clock hanging on his wall.
9pm. He glanced around his home and realized just how quiet things were without his son there. Usually by now he'd be trying to get the boy to go to sleep or watching something on tv. Now that his little man wasn't here though he could afford to go out and relax a little from being a parent. Grabbing his jacket he tossed it on and headed out, deciding to go to the local bar and get a quick drink. Who knows maybe he'd meet someone interesting there.
As he walked down the well lit streets towards the nearest bar he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. When the screen lit up he was pleasantly surprised to see it was a message from Takemi asking if he had plans later tonight. Inwardly he smiled, knowing why she was asking.
He replied that he had no plans and made sure to let her know Hajime was out with his mom for the next couple of days. Putting the phone away he waved to the owner who'd seen him enter. Quickly out of habit he scanned the room and his eyebrows raised when a familiar figure caught his eyes.
Over in a corner of the room was Kawakami, head held in her hands as his elbows rested on the table. She didn't look to be in good shape. Looking over at the bartender he motioned at him to get him two drinks and pointed towards Kawakami. Having frequented this place for a while now the young man knew what he liked. Nodding to him he grabbed the necessary bottles and began to work.
Leaving the money on the counter he picked up the two drinks and headed towards Kawakami who still hadn't moved at all from her position. He placed the two drinks down next to her and asked if he could sit.
The woman looked up at him and gasped in surprise seeing him. He noticed her eyes were red and puffy, most likely from crying. Noticing that he noticed she quickly used her sleeve to wipe her eyes and put a fake smile on as she sat up straight.
"Oh course please sit." She said with false happiness.
Sitting next to her he stares at her with concern clear in his eyes. "Is everything ok Kawakami?" It was a stupid question for sure. He knew she wasn't, but he wanted to see if she'd be willing to open up about her problems. It always helped letting it all out to someone willing to listen and help.
"Yeah I'm fine. I just had a lot of grading today and it took its toll that's all." She said weakly, clearly trying to hold back the next wave of tears.
"I've never seen anyone else look like this because they spent a long day grading papers Kawakami." The woman broke her gaze from him and instead opted to look down staring at her drink as he continued. "Even though I pay you to watch over my boy I do consider you a friend. If anything's wrong I'm willing to listen and if I have the ability to I'd like to help."
Just like that all of the restraint she'd been showing finally snapped and the tears continued flowing. She quickly grabbed the small cup and downed the contents and began explaining the situations she was in. She told him all about the accident that led to one of her students dying and how the parents were guilt tripping her into paying. She'd forgotten how much money she'd given them at this point and now she was behind on her rent, working multiple jobs, her health was suffering, and one of the teachers was constantly on her back at the school. Once she finished telling her tale she wiped her eyes once more before standing up and grabbing her bag.
"Sorry for bothering you with my troubles." She told him before dashing out of the bar. He frowned the moment she left and knew he had to help. Pulling out his phone he was ready to send the Phantom Thieves on their first job for him. However, he stopped just as he was about to send the message to their leader.
No. If they suddenly had a change of heart right after she told him about them it would cause suspicion. Kawakami was an intelligent woman and would know he was involved. Deleting the message he scrolled through his recent calls log and found what he was looking for.
"Shikamaru. Are you at your computer?
…
Yeah I know it's kinda late but listen I really need your help.
…
I need all the dirt you can get me on the Takase family here in Tokyo." He said into the phone. He waited a couple of seconds and could hear the fast clicking of a keyboard on the other side of the line.
"Ok what do you have? Yeah just send them my email. Thanks I owe you one. Bye." Hanging up he opened his email app and refreshed twice before the email finally came through. As he scrolled through the PDF file he'd been sent an evil smile formed on his face the more he read. As it turned out the Takase's filed their yearly tax reports individually as opposed to together considering they're married and have gotten pretty nice returns because of it.
From what Shikamaru pulled, they've been doing this for years. Enough to go to prison for a few years for tax fraud. If there was one universal truth was that no matter what country you were in, the government expected its money. If you tried to cheat them they'd make sure you were punished.
He downloaded everything to his phone making a mental note to print everything out later. Just as he was about to put it away another message from Takemi came through asking if he'd like to keep her company. As he replied saying he'd be there he remembered that the woman's birthday was tomorrow. He'd have to get her something nice for sure.
The next day after taking care of a few errands he made a beeline towards Kawakami's place, manilla envelope in hand. Hopefully she was home and in better shape. Knocking on the door he was glad when he heard footsteps approaching.
When she opened the door and realized it was him she once again tried to appear cheerful, but the smile wasn't exactly convincing.
"Kawakami, mind if I come in for a second?" He asked. The woman stepped aside and let him in.
"I'd offer you something to drink but I don't have much at the moment." She said quietly.
"It's fine. Actually I need to speak to you about something important." He said placing the envelope down on her small coffee table.
"Before you do." She interrupted "I wanted to apologize for venting to you last night and then running off. It must've been awkward for you watching my pathetic display in public. I'm sorry." She finished bowing slightly.
Waving her apology off he motioned for her to sit down. "That's actually why I'm here. See that folder I brought?" She nodded. "Open it."
She looked to him and then the folder and reached down to pick it up. He watched her go through each individual sheet and saw her face go from confused to shocked. With every sheet she read over he was sure he saw some life coming back into her eyes.
"I think that should be enough to get them off your back don't you think?" He asked rhetorically. She nodded slowly and placed the papers back down on the table. Before he could react she threw herself on him and pulled him into a crushing hug. He rubbed her back as the woman cried tears of what must be relief at the nightmare she's endured finally coming to an end.
He held her for about five minutes before she composed herself and apologized again. "I don't know how I'll ever pay you back for this but I will."
"You don't have to worry about that. Now they'll be off your back and you can quit some of those other jobs you seem to hate. With all the money that you'll be able to save for yourself you can probably get a nicer place. I know some people who can probably set you up somewhere nice for a low price."
The woman smiled at the thought, definitely wanting to get out of the small place she was at. Before he could leave she hugged him one more time mumbling 'thank you so much' into his shirt.
After leaving the woman's home he left the complex and got started on his final and most important errand of the day. Finding Takemi a gift. What could she want?
His eyes lit up when he remembered something. Pulling out his phone he called Ren and had him meet him in the underground mall in half an hour. He emphasized the importance of this meeting to make sure the boy wasn't late.
Half an hour later Naruto found himself at the underground mall looking around for Ren.
"Ok I'm here. What's this important job?" Ren asked seriously.
"I have an assignment I need your help with. You're familiar with Takemi, correct?" The boy nodded. "I don't know if you know this or not but today is her birthday. I need your help getting her a gift.
You must have spent some time with her, has she mentioned anything she might have her eyes on?" He questioned.
"Well she likes chocolate truffles, classical music, perfume, and I think she said something about a cute small cactus." Ren recited.
"A small cactus? Well she does have some strange interests so I guess it's not that surprising." Naruto said as he pulled his wallet out. Pulling a couple of bills out he handed them to the younger boy. "Alright you get the cactus and the chocolate. Get yourself something too if you want with whatever is left over. I'm gonna find the perfume." He pulled his phone out to check the time. "Meet back here in 20 minutes. Go."
Naruto liked the hustle as the boy dashed out of sight to get the items. He'd be sure to teach him something useful in today's training session. Making his way to the perfume stand he glanced at the selection on display and cursed silently to himself. Which one did Takemi like?
Luckily the young lady working there noticed his distress and helped him find one similar if not the same as the one she wore. After paying he made his way outside and noticed it'd only been about three minutes since he told Ren to look for the other items. Looking around he noticed another store with pink neon lights that had women dressed up as angels in lingerie and smiled to himself as an idea formed in his head.
When Ren got back a minute before the deadline he raised an eyebrow at the two pink bags that were in the older man's hand but said nothing.
"Don't worry about it." Naruto told him noticing the look. "Did you get the stuff?"
"Yeah chocolate and a cactus." He said, showing him the two items.
"Great. Call your team and have them meet us at my place. We gotta get training done a little early as I'm gonna be a little busy later."
The younger man nodded and sent the message to the team before following the blond out of the mall and to their training ground.
The training session was shorter than the one the previous day but much more rewarding. They did what he called endurance training. He had them each continuously fire attacks at his persona until they couldn't anymore. They'd take a small break and then would get right back to it. They still couldn't break his defense but their attacks were getting stronger.
As promised Naruto taught Ren a technique called 'deadly fury' which dealt severe damage to opponents who were either on your level or even slightly above. The team learned new techniques as well and learned how to better compliment each other's techniques using each other's personas to maximize damage.
"You guys sure you don't wanna take the day off tomorrow?"
"No. We're lucky to have this week with you training us. We need to improve and this is the best way to do it." Makoto answered for them.
Naruto smiled at the young woman. "Then be here tomorrow at the same time. Good job today."
The teens made their way out of his house and he hit the shower. When he came out he got dressed and made himself some food before texting Takemi if she was free later tonight. Luckily for him she said she worked all day and planned on staying home tonight. She invited him over to celebrate her birthday with her if he wanted to.
Later that night he grabbed the gifts he and Ren had gotten from her list as well as the other ones he picked out. Though that was gonna be a gift for both of them. Making sure his place was locked he made his way over. Tonight was gonna be fun.
And cut. Now I know you guys know exactly what he bought her. What do you guys think you wanna see what happens at her place in the next chapter? ;)
Anyways let me know what you guys thought and as always if you have any suggestions feel free to leave them in a review or PM me. Stay safe out there.