With the announcement of Persona 3's remaster for PC and xbox, I thought its about time that I delve back into the world of writing. I've actually been away from this site for a while, mainly due to me moving abroad and having a full-time job.

But…. that creative spark never truly leaves a writer. I am sure that any person that has spent a long time writing can attest to having that nagging sensation in the back of their mind.

However, even after I deleted well over 13 stories so as to not draw me back to the idea of writing, I find myself sitting at my desk- my mind tugging and pulling on the idea of writing again.

So, here I am.

I won't be updating too often, once or twice a month, sorry in advance.

XXxxXX

Prologue

Before the dawn of time,

Clusters of university full of beings of outlandish and unexplainable powers.

There, amongst all-knowing powers, a being known simply as the "absolute" watched on with a soulless gaze.

Exempt from the influence of the controlling paths of reincarnation,

And outside the existence of the land of bliss nirvana,

This being of darkness and shadows lurked beyond existence and comprehension.

It had always been there, an ageless watcher.

They came before Asura and Naraka,

Long before the concept of preta was drafted.

A timeless being of infinite time, an eternal chronicler.

A being of infinite eyes, of infinite power, of infinite infinity.

"H…. co…. yo….."

Words, soundless, yet coming from a void beyond even its understanding, echoed out,

"B … friend… gone"

For once in its existence, emotion took some grasp on its pneuma,

Turning its gaze out from far voided existence, the being looked upon a crack in the wheel before him, the holder looked down in concern.

"GIVE,"

The paths of asura shined as glowing golden thick chains started to break through, slapping the other paths.

"BACK,"

A call, almost like a devil-man possessed scream, reached even this being's ears as the chains outstretched and started wrapping around the wheel, and its watchers.

"MY!"

The chains stretched out and wrapped up reality in a speed beyond even light, encasing everything as a being of golden burst from the wheel…

"FAMILY!"

Even the being, all knowing and powerful, found itself becoming a prisoner, disbelief showing on its blank face as all faded to black….

Xx_xX

Episode 1:

Connections.

Bzzzt Bzzzt

A small room, no bigger than 50m², shook violently as a large electronic buzzing and beeping filled the air, a small device, seated next to an occupied futon, sparking to life.

Bzzzzzzzt Bzzzzzzzt

Almost like life just couldn't give the poor person a break, a sharp beam of glaring light pierced through the window's blinds, painting a bright glow across the face of the occupant. Gold matched golden as lighted reflexed from spiked hair laid flat against the pillow.

Bzzzzzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzzzzzt

"N…."

As the alarm continued to blare, a gentle voice barely broke through the sound damping door installed on the room, trying to coerce the young boy awake, having little to no effect. Even as said door was opened up to reveal a young beautiful female adult dressed in a white shirt tucked into a knee length pleated skirt, the boy refused to escape the land of make-belief.

"Naruto…" Kneeling down to the futon, careful not to mess up her skirt, the presumed mother gently shook the boy, tapping the "off" button on the alarm clock.

"Five… more….." The son, Naruto, groaned back as he tossed over, turning his back towards the mother. "mum."

The women let out a small sigh before standing up, dragging up the alarm before, without warning, dropping it on the head of the teen.

"CRAP!" Grabbing his head in pain as he curled up into a ball, Naruto yelled in pain as he glared up to his assailant, only to free in fear as a glaring mother met his gaze.

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikage, if you don't get up and dressed by the count of ten…." Glaring down at her son, Kushina Uzumaki Namikage folded one digit on her finger, refusing to break her fake angry glare as her son rubbed his head in pain.

"9" With blue eyes open wide, the boy threw off his bed covers and rushed to his draws at full speed, almost slipping over his futon and misplaced pieces of homework that he had totally done the night prior.

"8, 7"

The sound of small cursing filled the room as Naruto rushed through his clothing, frantically pulling a pair of black shoe trousers, a brown belt, and white socks out.

"6, 5, 4"

Jumping from one foot to the other, the blonde struggled to get his trousers on as he trashed around, finding salvation in his wardrobe.

"3…"

Cursing in frustration and fear increased, the teen pulled with all his might as he shuffled to get his trouser over his thighs, grunting happily as he managed to pull his belt tight… even if it was cutting on the supply of blood to his legs.

"2…"

Spinning on the spot, blue eyes widened, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he grabbed the handles to his wardrobe.

"1!"

The sound of a loud TANG echoed in the small closed off community, its familiar sound making the people awake to hear it to smile in nostalgia, the following yelping of 15 year old Uzumaki Naruto turning their smiles into laughter.

Afterall, it was a special day indeed that the blonde tike got a taste of his own medicine.

For Naruto, a pan to the head seemed to be the only thing to curb his ridiculous crazy behaviour.

"That hurt…" Not that the kid himself would agree with that outrageous statement, after all a pan to the head was serious! He could potentially have brain damage from the daily pan of death hitting him at full force by his demonic mother.

"Suck it up, we Uzumakis have hard skulls." Kushina from her place at the stove, using the same pan from before to cook some eggs. "You're sleeping in more and more lately, you should stop with your nightly escapades." The redhead remarked with a gentle frown as she dumped rice into the centre of the slowly forming omelette.

Scoffing at her remark, Naruto grumbled out a half-hearted apology, resting his chin onto his palm as he gazed out of the window, his thoughts going out to these…. escapades.

It all started 6 weeks ago. He had been up late Friday night, having just left home late from some late evening martial-arts training, when he found himself in a land so alien yet human. The moon shrined a sickly yellow, the blackness of the evening sky had a bloody glow, and black coffins littered the street.

At first, it was like a dream: no sounds other than what he made, the air was still, not an animal in sight. Even checking his clock showed that no time passed. So, in shock, he had made his way home and gone to bed, without exploring.

Then it happened the next day….And the day after.

Soon, it became a daily pastime. Of course, he would use the time given to him to do whatever he couldn't do in the day. Like using the local arcades (which machines didn't work, much to his annoyance) or gyms- without anyone knowing, or even exploring the dark alleyways of the bad part of town without worry.

But, not too shortly ago, something strange started happening. Black beings that reeked of death started coming out at night, their presence like a plague on the once peaceful extra hour.

And they were anything but friendly.

Brushing his arm, Naruto massaged the healing scar that went from his wrist all the way to his shoulder- the pain was no longer there, but the feeling of lightning coursing up his arm still lingered. Whatever those things were, they were strong, and no normal item could hurt them long term.

He had learnt that the hard way.

"Honey, you're going to be late." Kushina's voice broke the blonde's musing, his head shaking briefly as he glanced down, seeing that he had mindlessly consumed his breakfast without a thought. "Honey?"

"Sorry mum, I'm leaving now." Plucking his bag from the floor, Naruto left in a rush, leaving his bewildered mother alone in the house.

"Boys, I swear."

xxxx—-xxxx—-xxxx

"Have you lived a good life?"

Being asked such a deep question without warning had surprised Minato Namikage- it was random, but it did give the ageing blonde something to think on.

Growing up an orphan in a shitty part of Urayasu-shi, Minato had a harsh start to life. However, though he was embarrassed to admit, he was just as stubborn as his wife, and hadn't let such a poor beginning control his life- instead focusing on becoming the best at everything, be that sports, academics, and even music.

True, he wasn't perfect at all of them, but he was damn near close. The young blonde Asian had spent countless days without sleep so he could master everything he could get his hands on- he hadn't ever received a single grade that wasn't an A.

So, it came to no surprise that his academic history was one of his most shining achievements.

And that achievement had helped him in more ways than he could consider. Free trips to go around the world to visit different conferences, given money to attend school open days.

Heck, he was even offered several scholarships to study at different schools.

Of course, America or England had been his first choice, but at the time, something had called for him to stay close to home; so he ended up taking up an offer from Osaka University to take not only an undergraduate degree in Earth and Space Science, but also his PHD and Masters in geophysics and biophysics.

And boy was he happy he made that choice. Afterall, his wife had ironically been an exchange student at his university in his final years of his Masters, and they would have never met if he had travelled across the country.

But that story was for another day.

And it was a good story!

However, he was getting side tracked. Looking back, Minato knew his answer. On the day of graduating, he had been approached by a recruitment officer for a science team based in Tokyo, and given an internship. From there, he worked his ass off; he got married, he had a child, and now he was assistant head of department, overseeing the creation of Ibuki, Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite.

"Yes, I believe I've lived a good life." Minato remarked honestly; he had gone from being a urchin with nothing to his name, to a respected scientist working on a hundred billion Yen project. "Sorry, what was your name again?"

The man before him chuckled lightly as he reached inside his jacket pocket. "Don't worry about who I am."

Minato tenses in an instant, his nerves spiking as adrenaline rushing to his brain, only to freeze when the man, instead of bringing out a weapon, brought out a single brown envelope. "You've been reassigned, the details are in here. Good luck, Mr Namikage." Without another word, the man placed the brown envelope on Minato's desk and left, ignoring the weary look the blonde gave him.

Snapping out of his state of shock, Minato reached down and picked up the brown thin paper. "Reassigned?" Opening the letter, blonde eyebrows shot up in shock.

"Dear Mr Namikage, it is with great sadness that I am writing you this letter, but due to internal issues due to the recent tragic death of one of our primary founder's son, a request has been made to have you transferred to replace the position lost with his passing. Your new role will be head scientist preparing the Venus Climate Orbiter AKATSUKI. Your new pay will be increased from ¥4500 an hour to ¥7000 to reflect your new position, with an increase of 7 extra days of paid vacation, and new private healthcare. At the end of this month, your stay in Tokyo will finish, and new accommodation will be available in Tatsumi Port Island as of the 21st of june. We wish you best of luck in your new position, Head of Department, Satō Haruki."

Minato looked down in surprise. On one side, he was being forcibly transferred, with no say, uprooting him and his family. On the other hand, extra vacation days, a pay raise, and a new title was something he had been working towards for years now.

He just wished he had a say in it.

"Yo Mr Windy Wave, you're lookin' pale there." A light nervous voice snapped the blonde out of his stupor. Glancing up, Minato frown lightened slightly as he glanced at the white-suit wearing intern, who was spinning a lanyard on his ring figure. "Bad news?"

"Mr Satomi, it's nothing to worry about." Putting on a professional face of stoicism, Minato sighed internally, it would seem that he was doomed to forever be bothered by those around him today. "Did you manage to get the reports about the funding coming from Osaka University filed yet?"

The 30 year old intern stuttered as he scurried off, shouting something about "urgent meetings".

"I'll take that as a no."

Minato's head dropped, it would seem his last week was going to be a painful one.

xxxx—-xxxx—-xxxx

"Did you hear, the delinquent is finally leaving!"

"No shot, I thought that was a rumour."

Two small huddles of teens whispered between one another

"Like the rumour that he's dating the student president…. as if a guy like that could date a smart girl like that."

Naruto frowned as he rested his tired head on his desk, his eyes resting from the hard days of trying to pay attention in class, without causing chaos.

A truly monstrous task.

It wasn't his fault, not really. Most of his classes were boring beyond belief, with the only class he truly enjoyed was sports, and it just so happened that today was not a day he had sports on his lesson rotation.

"Uzumaki!"

Groaning, the poor blonde glanced up to the bane of his existence: spiky brown hair, dark eyes and broad flat nose, stood his Social Studies teacher, a nasty sneer on his face. "Oi yankie, get your ass up and go to the principal's office."

Naruto jaw hit the floor as he practically jumped from his seat. "B-but I didn't do shit, Beeko!"

"That's sir Beeko to you, shithead." The middle aged man said as he slammed his desk onto the table, hoping to strike fear into the boy… which it didn't, much to further annoyance. "You have a meeting for your last day, now get the hell out my classroom"

Grunting, Naruto grabbed his bag and left the classroom, flipped the teacher off much to his amusement, and the man's anger. "Damn asshole, always riding my ass." Ignoring the chatter of the classrooms that he passed, the blonde reflected upon his day.

"Shitty teachers."

The day had started out pretty well, he wasn't late, and last night he had managed to finish all of his homework in the extra hour so that his teachers wouldn't bitch him out.

Well, that was the hope anyway. Instead, as soon as he got into the homeroom, the grump ass homeroom teacher started a whole ass rant about America, and foreigners, and how they were breaking the Japanese economy with tourism, and blah blah blah.

Honestly, Naruto had tuned out his blatant hate from the moment the teacher opened his mouth. Until it got personal, that is.

He was not a damn Yanki, he was Japanese! Sure, he had blonde hair, and he was taller than most of his peers, and he had blue eyes….

Okay, so what if he was half Japanese?! He was born in the country, and he'd be damned if he was labelled a gaijin and punk for just his looks.

So, he did what any self respecting teen would do when the teacher was bitching him out.

He shot out a monster of a spit-ball straight into the fat-man's mouth, horrifying the man, and ultimately shutting him up.

And from there, it just got worse. It would seem that teacher after teacher was keen on making today a living hell for him.

With fat-ass Beeko being last on the list.

Luckily the journey from class E to the principal's office, making "walk of shame" a quick one, even if he hadn't technically done anything wrong.

'Well, nothing that serious.'

You couldn't blame a menace of society from playing a prank or five, it was in his nature! The asshole teachers just made easy targets.

"Come in, Uzumaki." Snapping his head to left, Naruto coughed in slight embarrassment, in his musing he had almost walked right past the open door leading to the office of his school's moustached, greying, headmaster. "Please take a seat, I have news that you need to hear."

Stunned, but not surprised, by the man's sincere tone, Naruto slowly walked into the office and took a seat opposite the teacher, wearing a small frown on concern. "Everything alright, Mr Karamatsu?"

Raising a brow in slight surprise by the formal tone, the man leaned back with a small smile as he locked eyes with Naruto. Whilst the blonde wasn't the best for behaviour, he really was the school's star for anything athletic related. Heck, in the past 6 months, the kid's academic ranking shot up, he went from barely passing to be a respectable overall B in all of his classes. "It pains me to say this, but we've some unfortunate news. Today is your last day at this school."

Naruto blinked owlishly, his mind racing as he looked at the man for any sign of deception. "What?"

"Unfortunately, you're leaving this school today." Humming in sadness , Mr Karamatsu stroked his chin as he picked up the folder on his table and handed it to the blonde and gestured for him to open it. "It would seem that your father has recently gotten a promotion, which means your family will be moving to Tatsumi."

Gapping, Naruto half listened as he read the papers in the thin folder, his eyes glued to the large port school in disbelief. "But, what about our volleyball team, I'm captain." He asked without looking up, missing the light frown on the headmaster's face. "What about my friends?" Silently thinking to himself, Naruto, for the first time in his life, frowned in worry. He was being forced out from his home, his school, and his social life- heck, even his personal relationships were no doubt going to be affected.

"Oda-san will become captain," The headmaster remarked without emotion, making it hard to read his feelings. "You're welcome to sit here and take in the information, or head home early, thank you for being a good student Naruto."

Nodding, Naruto silently got up and left, bowing his head slightly before closing the office door, his mind wandering as he silently walked through the halls, taking in and bathing in the memories of the school.

The people he had befriended, the teachers that made a positive impact, the nights he had stayed late watching the fireworks.

It hurt to leave them.

"Yo, Captain, why the sour face." A slap to his back broke Naruto from his moping, a small smile on his face as he turned to the only person he knew would be brave enough to slap him and insult him with that uniquely monotone voice. "And there goes all that mystery, you're too boring Naruto."

"I would be excited if you weren't such a know-it-all, Meka." Naruto remarked as he turned around and promptly looked down, smiling at the 147 centimetre tall female student council president. "Nice new hairstyle, you've gone from a fresh spiky pineapple to a drooping one."

Looking flatly at the blonde, with her hands on her hips, and a frown on her face, Meka Nara, local genius and Naruto's childhood friend, ignored the slight about her ponytail, instead focusing on her friend's troublesome attitude. "I heard Oda is becoming captain, did you finally decide to stop hitting balls for a living and join the student council?" Seeing the boy tense, Meka frowned, her mind racing at the possibilities… until she came to one possible conclusion. "You're not going to propose are you?

Naruto, completely caught off guard, choked on air, his fist coming up to hit his chest. "W-wha?!"

Laughing at the blonde's reaction, Meka smiled softly at the struggling blonde, the worried look in his eyes disappeared. "The pranker has been pranked, how ironic."

Scoffing in frustration, Naruto got a grip on his breathing as he stood up straight, just as a prank ran through his mind, his frown turning into a devilish smile. "Well," Bringing up a hand, the blonde tilted the girl's head up, locking eyes with her, a charming smile coming on full force. "I have always liked you," Spinning a surprised Meka around, so that her back was flat against the wall, Naruto slowly leaned down, fully aware of her dark eyes tracking his lips. "You just have to say yes first."

Meka, normally a level headed calm girl, blushed up a storm and started sputtering, only to freeze when Naruto suddenly smirked and pulled back, opening his mouth to no doubt spoil the moment.

Only for him to grunt when someone suddenly jumped onto his back, forcing him down and consequently causing the two friends to collide in a teeth clicking, lip-locking, surprise kiss.

It was anything but glamorous, but it nonetheless caused the poor girl to emotionally explode, her knees buckling and her hands dropping limply to her side.

"Yo Baka fox, what's this I hear you're making me captain." The new arrival shouted as they used their arm to try and choke out the blonde, grunting in effort as they pulled back, dragging the two surprised friends apart. "What's with that dumb look on your face?" Now completely visible, the short teen, with black bowl-cut hair, a shark-like grin on his face. "What?"

"Shinichiroooo!" With a harsh growl of embarrassment fuelled anger, Naruto suddenly lunged at the short teen, who yelped and jumped back, his face turning white as a sheet. "Imma kill you!" Lunging at the teen, the blonde cursed out the new captain.

Laughing, much like a kid in a candy store, the new captain ran away from the blonde, dodging and weaving from his attempts to grab him "Sorry, not sorry!" Sprinting in the opposite direction, the new captain disappeared around the corner, unaware that the berserker blonde was currently being restrained by the soft grip of the student council president.

The two teens stood silently for tens of minutes, air filed with teenage anxiety, the summer chirping of cicadas being the only break. "So," After mustering up their inner confidence, Meka and Naruto started talking, unintentionally interrupting each-other, but fortunately breaking the air of awkwardness, the two laughing abruptly from the mix of relief and shyness.

Naruto, being the first to stop laugh, blushed lightly as he took in the sight of the girl before him, the light tears of joys in the colour of her chocolate eyes, her beautiful eyes, the glistering of her redding checks, the bobbing of her petite frame as she let out her beautiful laugh…. the blonde couldn't deny his childhood friend was a special person that had long wormed her way into his heart, and him vise versa.

"Meka…" Blue eyes locked with curious brown as he felt a sense of sadness wash over him, he was truly going to miss her. "I've got some news, and it's not good."

The happy atmosphere between the two quickly changed into a worried one, Meka's smile fading with it. "What's up Naruto, are your parents okay?"

"Ma and Pa are fine," Naruto began with a short sigh, his gaze turning away from his childhood friend. "But, well… listen." Struggling to think of the right words, the blonde gave one more heavy sign before meeting Meka's gaze, an intense look into his eyes. "I'm leaving, today."

"What?" Meka, who had been worried, became confused, as smart as she was, the words he spoke really didn't match up with a meaning. "What do you mean you're leaving?"

"It means I'm leaving Tokyo tonight, and I don't know when I'll be back."

"No." Naruto, unsure of how the girl would react, let his jaw hit the floor, surprised by the blatant denial. "Naruto, please shut up, you're not leaving Tokyo." Meka continued, interrupting the teen and denying his statement, using his shock as a way to step away from him. "You wouldn't do that to me."

A faint frown made itself present on the volleyball player's face as a wave of guilt washed over him. "If I could choose, I wouldn't be going anywhere." The blonde said as he stepped closer to his friend, who remained like a statue, a look of disbelief on her face. "Here," Leaning down, he grabbed the folder that he had dropped when Oda had jumped onto his back, before passing it to the president.

Nervous, Meka shakingly took the folder and silently opened it up, her eyes scanning the contents at a speed that would surprise anyone that didn't know her. "I…" Fresh tears, no longer of joy but of despair, hit the paper like fresh rain, slow at first. Seeing the pain, her companion since kindergarten brought her into a warm hug as droplets became a stream, cascading down his school jacket, turning the light clay colour of his left shoulder into a deep brown one. "I…. I don't… want you to go."

Like a statue of stoicism, Naruto took into Meka's pain, her cries, ignoring the slowly growing crowd gathering at the edge of the hallway, their hush whispering making it very hard for him not to snap at them. Before long, he was cradling an emotionally exhausted teen away from the crowd, and down the hall towards the, hopefully, empty student council room.

Much to the two's privacy, the room was luckily empty- the neatly pushed in chairs, the hot stale air barely affected by the humming of an old fan, Naruto hated it here. The council room was an abandoned classroom that had been hastily converted, old remnants of a long-gone English teacher littered its walls, information cheat sheets 10 years out of day lay discoloured and half peeling off the walls, even an old TV was pushed up against the edge of the room. Overall, it was a gloomy place, one that, for some unknown reason, the president and her other club members loved. "The room may be old, but it has history, I'm just giving it a future." Meka often remarked.

A load of hogwash if you asked Naruto.

"What are we going to do?" The question was so meek and quiet, so unlike his childhood friend, that Naruto had to double take. "We're too young to run away, and I know it would be hard for you to find a job without graduating." Mumbling mostly to herself, Meka seemed to be lost in a world of planning, one that Naruto knew for a fact was beyond his comprehension, honestly he was still surprised that Meka, the childhood genius, continued to even attend this school. "But I know we can figure it out, I can go to University and study law, and whilst times might be tough for a couple years, I know you'd support us both enough to get by."

"Meka, stop." Naruto stopped his friend before she got too ahead of herself, snapping her from her thoughts. "I'm sorry, but I can't abandon my family." His words snuck past Meka's newly constructed emotional barrier, hitting its flimsy nature and shattering it, fresh tears appearing as a result. "Hey hey," Bringing up his hands, he rubbed the fresh tears away, getting the girl to look him in the eyes. "I will always be your baka-blondie, and I'll text you every day!"

"You promise," After seeing the blonde nod, the usually bold and strong girl, broken by the news, started to regain emotional control. "Okay… but I want to text at least twice a day!" Meka, suddenly re-energised, snapped at the blonde, a frown on her face as she grabbed Naruto's hands and squeezed. "And no female friends! Some of them might have alternative reasons for being your friend, and I can't vet them, so it's not safe."

Hearing the outrageous statement, but unwilling to break the girl a second time, Naruto nodded in agreement, a small smile on his face as he leaned forward, his forehead gently tapping against Meka's making her yelp in surprise, a small cute pout blossoming on her face making the blonde laugh loudly.

"You suck, Naruto."

Even with the insult, Naruto continued to laugh out loudly.

XxxxX—- Chapter One End —- XxxxX