Hello everyone, sorry for the long time without an update, I really don't have an excuse for it so I won't bother. Some things to note is I've taken a few liberties with the Metaverse in what can be done in it which you'll read about in this chapter. I just felt it was a bit restrictive in the game so hopefully you guys like it. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

Most of you probably know I made a discord server a while ago so if you'd like to join and chat with great authors like Helghy, Kiege, Itzgatt, and plenty of cool people, consider coming through. You might be able to talk me into updating something you're waiting on. The code is:

UHaHKKvAP6

Warm yellow rays wafted through the blinds of Takemi's room. The rays almost precisely landed on the face of the still sleeping blond. Instinctually, one of his arms came up to block the light passing through his eyelids in an attempt to stay asleep but it was a fruitless endeavor. The morning sun had done its job and woken him up.

Grumbling to himself, Naruto crawled upwards on his back, getting his face out of the sun before taking a deep breath. The first thing he noticed was that the ceiling looked different than what he was used to waking up to.

'Where am I?' He wondered briefly. Just as his body started to wake up completely, all of the previous night's activities came flooding back to him. Now he remembered, he was in Takemi's room. After arriving at her house and giving her her birthday present, the two had settled on watching a movie with some drinks before going to the bedroom.

She had laughed when he told her he had another gift for her and luckily, she enjoyed that one just as much as the actual gift. He smiled at the thought of the mind blowing sex they'd had well into the night but a look of discomfort quickly passed through his face as well. Putting his hands up in front of him, he lightly rubbed his wrists which were still slightly red.

Takemi had wanted to be in charge for a change and since it was her birthday, he'd let it happen. Normally she had no problem submitting but this time she was feeling bold and had tied his arms to the bed posts while she enjoyed herself.

Naruto looked over to the other side of the bed only to see it empty. Tapping the spot where she'd laid the night before he hummed at the feeling of the cold sheets. Seemed she'd been up for a while now, but where could she be?

"Good morning. About time you woke up." The blond sat up, letting his back rest on the headboard and turned to look at the doctor. If waking up didn't already have him stiff, the sight he was greeted to would have done the job. The blue haired woman was leaning against the doorframe with a white cup of coffee in hand.

Despite having seen it all before, he still had to give an appreciative glance. She was still wearing the black lingerie he'd gifted her but now she also wore a see through black robe that she had tied at the waist.

"What time is it?" The blond asked. Seeing how bright the room was it had to be relatively late. He was usually up before the sun rose to prepare for the day. Between showering, cooking breakfast, getting his son's clothes ironed, and going over documents for work, he didn't have the luxury of sleeping in. Now that he was with his mom though he had a chance to relax and unwind for a little bit.

"It's just past ten am." She said before pushing up off the frame and turning around. "Come on, I'm making breakfast."

Throwing his legs over the bed, he quickly found his pants and slipped them on. He grabbed his shirt and tossed it over his shoulder, not quite feeling like putting it on just yet. Making his way out of the room he found his way to the kitchen and passed behind Takemi, making sure to give her rear a light pinch as he did so.

"Behave." She warned playfully. "Take a seat, I'm almost done."

Sitting on the side furthest from the kitchen, he rested his elbow on the table, his hand on his palm, and admired the older woman cooking for him.

'This is nice' He thought. 'I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time.'

"Breakfast and a show." Takemi said, forcing him to trail his eyes back up to her face. "Makes me wonder who's birthday it actually was. Seems like you're the one getting pampered." She teased.

Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "I'm not sure about that. The marks on my wrist say it was definitely yours." He shot back.

Takemi didn't reply, instead she smirked at her handy work and resumed cooking. For a split second, the quick interaction and environment reminded him of a certain moment from the past. The day just after he and Sae had gotten married, after a long night of consummating their marriage they had shared a moment similar to this one.

Almost everything was the same, the only difference was that Sae had foregone all clothing in an attempt at being sexy and had a massive blush on her face as she did so. Takemi was completely confident in herself and her body and clearly didn't have an issue showing it off. She would even make sure he got an eyeful everytime she would bend down to get something out of one of the drawers.

The smile he'd had the entire time turned slightly bitter at the memories. He was twenty seven, a single dad raising a kid, with a failed marriage under his belt. Things hadn't gone the way he had imagined they would years ago. While he had made the most of it and distracted himself with company and putting his child first, there were still moments like this that always brought him down.

"Whatever you're thinking about you should stop before you ruin your day. It hasn't even started yet."

Naruto blinked and saw the woman make her way towards him, placing a plate in front of him and one next to him. She brought two drinks over and took a seat in the empty seat next to him.

"So what's the plan for today?" She asked curiously.

The blond looked down at the food and inhaled the sweet aroma of the breakfast. He felt his mouth water and after saying a quick thank you, took the first bite.

"This is amazing." He complimented. "Anyway, I have only one meeting in a few hours and then I have to meet up with Amamiya and his group later in the day."

Takemi raised an eyebrow, curiosity clear on her face. Knowing that she was expecting him to elaborate he quickly swallowed the bite of food he'd taken and replied.

"I've become something of a tutor for them. My ex wife's little sister asked if I could tutor her and her friends on a subject and I figured why not? They're an interesting bunch." He wasn't necessarily lying, he really was teaching them, just not academically.

"Still on good terms with your ex sister in law huh?" She commented. "You're lucky, usually the relationship with the other family goes south after a divorce."

Naruto nodded, that was usually the case in divorces but considering the circumstances of his, he didn't need to worry about it. "Makoto is old enough to understand what happened and even though she's Sae's little sister she has told me she doesn't believe what happened was my fault. That actually made the whole process hurt a little less."

Knowing that the mood was beginning to sour, Takemi took a sip of her drink and decided to get the conversation back on track. "I'm surprised though, you're a busy man as it is, taking on a tutoring job just adds more onto your plate doesn't it? Who's gonna take care of your boy?"

"It's just this week every month so I won't need a sitter. Why? Are you offering?" Naruto teased.

Takemi laughed and shook her head slowly. "I'll pass on that. Your kid is cute and all but I'm not exactly experienced in taking care of children. Anyway, I remember back when we were in school, you never struck me as the studious type. If I recall correctly, you used to be in a hurry all the time to leave." She pointed out.

Naruto smiled. "Well you were a third year when I was a first year so you never really saw my studious side." He shot back. "As for why I'd leave so quickly, it's because I had a job."

It wasn't exactly a legal job as he had no real employer, but going into the Metaverse with Shikamaru to get money and extort politicians and important figures in the world was definitely a job. The two would spend hours on end going from palace to palace, learning their deepest desires and secrets to use for their benefit. Was it unethical? That depended on who you asked but they didn't care. They never crossed anyone who didn't deserve it.

"That job must have paid very well." She said, giving him a pointed look. "You and your friend had a new pair of shoes every week. What could someone that young be doing to be making that kind of money? Especially when the law only permitted so many hours." She prodded.

"Maybe I was making my own medicines and selling them to other students?"

Takemi rolled her eyes but chuckled nonetheless, she knew she wouldn't be getting a straight answer from him. She didn't care too much, he was good to her and that's all that mattered.

"We just knew how to work the system." He said. Working the system was something he had become an expert on during his time in high school. After entering the metaverse a few times and learning the ins and outs of it, life became a lot easier. Somehow the shadows in the Metaverse dropped money that could be taken out into the real world. That combined with his ability to have multiple persona's had given him an advantage in life that they'd taken complete advantage of.

Once they had gotten comfortable and figured out how to maneuver through the psychic resonance of the human population, Shikamaru had come up with the idea to find what the corrupt wanted and extort them for money and influence, and it had worked out marvelously. His friend had also been responsible for figuring out some of the more advanced abilities like occupying territories.

In a way they were something like the first generation of the 'Phantom Thieves' with the exception that they didn't bother changing people's hearts. Due to everything they'd done in their time there, he'd had the means to spoil Sae while they were still dating and give her the wedding of her dreams. Those were days.

"What about you? What's on the agenda today?" He asked, equally curious.

"I'll just have to see what patients come in today." She replied. Her eyes lit up shortly after as she remembered something. "Oh yeah, I also have to run a few tests on my little guinea pig today." She added, referring to the leader of the Phantom Thieves.

Naruto snorted in amusement at how happy she sounded to try out another non approved medicine she'd created and internally shook his head.

'That kid is crazy to just accept unknown substances.' He thought. Not that he didn't understand why. Even though the Metaverse was a completely separate thing from the real world, one still felt anything that harmed you while inside. No sane doctor would prescribe any sort of medicine to a minor who claimed to be traveling to peoples psychic resonance.

The thought of the woman's ability to create useful medicine brought another thought to the forefront of his mind.

"Takemi." He said, getting her to turn to him. "Have you ever thought of trying to get a job at a renowned clinic or hospital?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he held a hand up in front of her to stop her from interrupting. "Believe me, I know that the medical trial wasn't your fault."

The doctor's eyes widened ever so slightly, clearly surprised that he knew about that. They'd known each other for a while but had lost touch after high school. She hadn't told him about the incident that had cost her her career, only ever telling him that something bad had happened.

"You're wondering how I know about that." He stated. "I don't want to sound like those asshole businessmen or politicians like Shido but you learn some things when you have money."

Having a genius hacker like Shikamaru in his corner also helped.

"I know some people and we can get this whole mess cleared up. You could probably land a job with incredible pay, your talent can be put to better use." He finished.

The blue haired doctor looked down at her plate and slowly let a smile grace her face. Naruto noted it was different from the usual saucy or teasing smiles she sent him. Turning to look at him again, she placed a hand on his cheek delicately.

"You're a sweet man Naruto. I'll think about it. I'm developing some good medicine at the moment and want to finish a few more that I think can help people."

"Just know the offer is always available." He reassured. The rest of their breakfast was a pleasant affair. The two went back to their usual bantering as they did when they hung out and shortly after, he took a quick shower before heading back home to get the rest of his day started.

xxxxx

Naruto groaned in annoyance and relief as he finally walked through the door of his house. Although he only had one meeting, it had run long because of indecisive shareholders bickering amongst each other. One group of people wanted to elect one candidate for a position while another wanted someone else, each looking for the best ways to get the money into their own grubby pockets.

One could make an argument that he was no different since he was there but he already had money, he didn't care who they elected. None of them were the CEO or president of the company, they had no real power.

Sometimes he wished they hadn't taken so much money from the Metaverse. It helped out tremendously of course, but that kind of money needed to be laundered somehow. All the investments, stocks, and businesses forced him to take on high level positions in companies. A necessary evil.

He quickly removed his suit and plopped down on a chair in the kitchen, letting his body relax for a moment. It wasn't something he was in the habit of doing but now that he was alone, there was no reason he couldn't. The sound of the seconds hand ticking along filled the room, letting him know just how silent it really was at the moment.

'It feels strange for the house to be so quiet' Naruto thought to himself. Some of his son's toys laid on the ground, not put away as he'd instructed him to do before taking him to his mothers place. Sighing, he quickly picked them up and put them away before heading to his room to change into more comfortable clothes.

Picking out a t- shirt and jeans, he made his way to the bathroom for a quick rinse. Closing the door and placing the clothes on one of the towel hangers, he glanced at himself in the mirror and stopped. His eyes trailed down his body to the left side of his ribs. A large faded scar ran up his side, it was a reminder of his inexperienced days and how rushing without a plan had its consequences.

"If the Phantom Thieves want to continue what they're doing they're gonna have to get stronger." He muttered to himself, running his fingers over the slightly discolored skin. The people they would target in the future would surely be higher profile than just a mobster. The shadows guarding Kaneshiro's palace definitely posed a threat to them at their current level. It was a general rule of the Metaverse and even Mementos, the more twisted and powerful a person's desires, the stronger the shadows become. They needed to get stronger quickly and learn a few tricks to make their progress a bit easier.

Fortunately for them, they had something he didn't when he was running around. Him, someone who had years of experience and could show them how to make things run a little smoother. Putting his phone on the countertop next to the sink, he stripped down and turned the water on. After the day he'd had, the warm water did wonders for him.

It suddenly made sense why women took so damn long when showering. A few minutes later he stepped out to dry and checked his phone as he usually did.

Two notifications showed up on screen, one being a text message from Makoto and the other being an email from the school. Prioritizing school he opened it up and jotted down on his calendar the parent teacher meetings that would be taking place soon. Having done that he opened Makoto's message, asking if he was available yet.

Giving her a quick 'yes' he asked them to give him twenty minutes to get ready. He stressed the importance of today's session and asked that they be on time since they'd need every minute they had.

Twenty minutes later there was a knock on his door, letting him know the Phantom Thieves had arrived. He was pleased to see everyone looking serious and ready for whatever he had in mind. That was good, they would need that drive.

"Kids." He greeted as he stepped aside. "Come in."

The team followed him into the living room and took a seat across from him once more.

"I'm glad you guys are here. Before we start, has everyone eaten, would you like anything to drink?" He offered.

Everyone but Ryuji declined and after munching on a pastry he'd given him, they were ready.

"So what will we be working on today?" Makoto asked in a serious tone. "You emphasized that today would be important."

Naruto nodded. "We'll be working on two different things today. Combat training and a special lesson in Mementos."

The group looked slightly nervous at the declaration, causing him to lift a hand. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna make you fight a reaper. None of you are strong enough…yet. Don't worry, just know it'll be something that will really help you in the future. Are you ready?"

The thieves nodded.

"Good." Pulling his phone out, he tapped the screen and sent them to an unfamiliar area. Unfamiliar to the younger ones at least.

Ann looked around and she turned back to the older blond with a pointed look. "This is that palace you said you 'occupied'. What are we doing here?"

Naruto looked at the group and summoned the weakest of his Persona's, that being the one tailed racoon, Shukaku. The atmosphere shifted immediately as the power it radiated spread out across the area. On instinct, the thieves summoned their Persona's as well and jumped back to create space between them.

"We're going to work on your deduction skills." He announced. "When you fought Kaneshiro, most if not all of you just tried attack after attack until you found what he was weak against. That's one way to do it, sure, but it also wastes energy unnecessarily."

He paused for a moment to see if everyone was paying attention. Luckily all eyes were on him, with serious expressions on their faces.

"I want you to study him while we battle and plan accordingly without spamming attacks. Take note of what kind of attacks he uses and figure out what would be the best course of action."

"Most enemies won't be lenient enough to let us study it though." Joker pointed out.

Naruto nodded. "That's true, but this is just to get you started. Once you do it enough, even with low level enemies, you'll be able to find weaknesses after just one attack. Besides, if you can do well against my Persona's, you shouldn't have any trouble with others."

They nodded at his words. The power they felt from this beast was immense but it still didn't hold a candle to the one he'd used when he fought the reaper. They already knew he was stronger than them but seeing that his weakest was still leagues above them really put into perspective how much further they have to go.

"Ready? Begin." On command, his persona inhaled deeply and fired off three powerful bursts of wind at their leader's Persona. The power behind them was held back considerably however so as to give them a chance to see what kind of attack was fired.

'Don't lose your focus.' He thought to himself. The group all looked shocked at the speed at which the attack was fired and it was clear they didn't know what had been shot. Luckily the aim had been off as well, since that kid of power would have definitely left a mark on their leader.

"Goemon now!" Yusuke yelled. Naruto's eyes darted towards the youth to see his Persona attacking with large amounts of ice. Inwardly, he smiled, that by itself wouldn't and didn't do any damage but if they thought it through they could do something.

Shukaku took virtually no damage and shrugged off the attack and turned his attention to him. Another deep breath was taken and unlike last time, the attack didn't miss. Goemon was sent tumbling back, forcing Yusuke to take a knee and clutch at his chest.

Ann frowned at seeing her friend go down. "Carmen!" She yelled. The female Persona let off a torrent of fire which like the previous attack, didn't do much.

Joker looked at their opponent with a critical eye, he'd finally noticed that it had been a wind based attack but also noticed what exactly the Persona was made of, sand. A plan immediately formed in his mind that could finally get some progress showing. Ordering the team to get ready to block the next attack, he kept his eyes peeled.

Naruto's eyes locked onto his own and didn't attack. If he hit Yusuke with another attack he would go down, and that couldn't happen just yet. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Joker ordered Yusuke to use the ice attack again. Shortly after the attack, the artist quickly picked up on the plan and had Ann use Carmen's fire attack in conjunction with his to form a powerful water attack.

'Good' Naruto though. Shukaku took a bit of damage, but didn't budge.

"I'm up next. Zio!" Ryuji called out. His Persona let off a powerful lightning attack which, while Shukaku was drenched in water, added to the damage taken.

The older blonde clapped his hands slowly while nodding his head. Shukaku disappeared from his spot and the others followed suit. Though the battle hadn't taken that long, they'd made immense progress. The last few times they'd battled, not a single bit of damage had been taken on his part but they'd finally done it.

"Excellent. It took a few attacks but you were able to see what would work against it and implement it, even without verbally communicating. Ryuji, you noticed the attack had done damage and that water would be a good conductor for your lightning attack and acted accordingly, that was the right move." He praised.

"While I have you we'll be continuing these kinds of training sessions against different Persona's to continue to improve on your skills. An added benefit you'll have is that most Persona attacks won't be as fast as mine, or do as much damage so the better you get here, the better your chances are against the others."

The thieves looked proud of themselves, rightfully so and took a moment to heal up. Takemi's medicine did wonders for them.

Pulling out his phone, he waited until everyone was back in good form and transported them from the palace into the underground subway system that was Mementos. They appeared in the safe room at the entrance to the system and looked at their teacher.

"So what will we be doing here?" Makoto asked. "Are we changing someone for you?" That question reminded them that they were technically under his employment as part of their agreement. Fortunately, he shook his head.

"No, I'm going to teach you guys how to do something that will make your training go by a bit more smoothly. There's a reason we're here towards the upper levels, can anyone tell me why that might be?"

Mona took a step forward and cleared his throat. "Is it because the shadows here are weak?"

Naruto smiled at the cat and patted his head, much to its annoyance. "That's right. You're completely overqualified for this area but that's exactly why we're here."

Stepping out of the safe room, the thieves followed him as he made his way deeper into the tunnels, quickly making easy work of the shadows in front of him.

They made two turns until they found a room that was a dead end with an open chest towards the far side.

"What do you see here?" Naruto asked.

"An empty room?" Ryuji guessed.

"Well yes. Let me rephrase that though, what do you think we can use this room for?"

The question confused the group. It was an empty room, there was nothing of use in it, nor could they find a hidden door for anything.

"Makoto." He called out, causing the woman to stand a bit straighter. "This is the important lesson I told you guys about. I'm going to teach you how to create a safe room."

Even the usually stoic Joker couldn't hide his surprise at the declaration. Mona, who considered himself an expert of the Metaverse, also looked at the older blond with a surprised expression.

"Creating a safe room? Is that possible?"

Naruto nodded. "It is, you just need a few things to do it. You were curious as to how I was able to take over someone's palace right? This is the first step." He fished out a few small boxes out of his pockets.

"These work as beacons down here, the same way a fake gun works as a real one. To create them you need thick parchment, two pieces of thicker parchment, a bit of silk yarn, some iron sand, and three plant balms along with plenty of scrap metal and a light bulb." He said as he walked around to the four corners of the room, leaving a small box on each side.

Joker repeated the items in his mind as he heard them and knew that those were meant to hide detection as well as putting enemies to sleep.

"Once all four are in place, the beacons activate and…" He trailed off. The entrance to the room suddenly began to smoke until it formed a door made completely out of smoke and the boxes shot a beam of light up to the roof of the tunnel. "Any enemy that gets near feels its effect and since you're undetectable they have no reason to enter and just walk away. Keep in mind you can only do this once you've cleared out a room. The light is to create the perimeter of the safe room."

"So this is how you take over a palace?" Mona asked, standing in front of the smoking 'door'.

Naruto shook his head. "No, that takes a lot of power to do. It does make use of the beacons but it's a lot more difficult, you'll learn to do that once you get a bit stronger."

"So occupied palaces are essentially one large safe room?" Yusuke asked.

Again, the blond shook his head. "Occupation of a palace is essentially a hostile takeover, but you still need a few tools, and more importantly, a powerful persona as well as a strong desire to do so. You'll find out eventually. What I want you guys to do is to go into another room, and create a safe space for us." He ordered.

Fishing more boxes out, he handed one to Joker, Mona, Makoto, and Ann.

"I'll show you exactly how to make them tomorrow, Go."

The group made easy work of the shadows around and were quickly able to get the job done. The room had been successfully taken over, giving them a new place to rest apart from the entrance.

"This could be useful when we need to go further down and there's more tunnels." Makoto commented.

Naruto nodded. Once they got stronger and occupied palaces, he'd teach them how to create their own which could act as a real headquarters for them. For now though, they deserved a bit of rest.

"That was the plan. Anyway, we've been down here a while now, why don't we call it a day?" Everyone was in agreement and they were soon back in his living room. Returning from the Metaverse showed that they were still slightly beat up from their battle and being the adult he was, he decided to get them a ride back.

Confident that they would all make it home safe, he decided to forego cooking dinner and just get something to go. As he strolled down the streets, looking to see what sounded appetizing, his phone rang from inside his pocket.

Glancing at the screen he blinked in surprise when he saw it wasn't Sae, Makoto, or even Ren but rather Kawakami.

"Hello?"

"Hello, I hope I'm not bothering, is this a bad time?" She asked nervously.

"Not at all. I was just on my way to get something to eat. Is there something I can help you with?"

There was silence on the line for a moment. "I just wanted to say thank you again for what you did for me. I was able to quit every other job I was forced to take and finally have money for myself."

He smiled and sat on one of the railings that lined the streets. "Don't mention it. You didn't deserve what happened to you."

"Yes well I just wanted to thank you properly and figured I could at least do something. You completely changed my life, so if it's not too weird or anything would you like to get some dinner tonight?"

The question caught him off guard slightly.

"If not I completely understand sorry for wasting your time." She added in a panic.

"Wait. Sorry I was just surprised. I'd love to." He could almost feel the relief from the woman. "Where would you like to go?"

He nodded as she told him where to meet her at 9pm and hung up after confirming the details. Glancing at the screen for a moment he shrugged and put the phone back in his pocket. A date with Kawakami wasn't what he'd planned but he wouldn't turn it down. She was an attractive woman, not in the same way as Sae who exuded confidence, or Takemi who was bold and knew how to get his attention, but in her own special way.

Smiling to himself he decided on a light snack. He could hold himself over until later.

So what did you guys think? A date with Kawakami will be seen in the next chapter. Would yall like to see/read a lemon there with the teacher or no? Also, the next chapter or the following will begin the events of Futaba's palace.

UHaHKKvAP6