AUTHOR NOTE: TWEAKING THE STORY BASED ON P5R WON THE POLL. 72% OF THE VOTES WENT TO IT.

ALSO, TO CLEAR THIS UP FOR THOSE WHO ASKED ABOUT IT: NARUTO AND JOKER ARE THE SAME PERSON IN THIS, ONLY HE'S SIMILAR TO KASUMI/SUMIRE.

Naruto sighed within the solitary confinement cell of Hōzuki Castle, a large castle in Kusagakure that served as a criminal containment facility that was also known as the Blood Prison.

What was he doing there?

Apparently, Naruto was wanted for attempting to assassinate the leader of Kumogakure, the Raikage, and killing jōnin from Kirigakure and Iwagakure.

However, as cliché as this sounded: he didn't do it!

Seriously, what reason would he have had to do those things if he was the culprit? Nobody questioned that!

The more that he thought about it, the more betrayed he felt. His "precious people" had turned on him. With no evidence to back it up other that the word of the worst knuckle-dragging hothead in all the Elemental Nations who thought two plus two equaled smash! Now he was stuck in this place!

Besides, nobody even considered the damned Akatsuki!

A group of S-rank criminals band together to form a terrorist organization, and nobody ever even BOTHERED to think of the fact that a group of such skilled, psychotic ninjas would have access to the E-rank classification Henge no Jutsu, and E-rank was used exclusively when classifying techniques intended for Academy Students!?

Why nobody could stop and think those bastards would lack either the means or motive to frame him and make it so he was trapped in one place with his chakra sealed away by a jutsu which prevented those subjected to it from molding chakra, using techniques, and also drained them of their chakra at a steady rate, while the formula set the victim on fire so they burnt alive if they tried using chakra...it was beyond him, especially considering the ones that turned their backs on him knew...they knew...the Akatsuki were after him! It was infuriating!

Taking a deep breath to calm himself so he didn't unintentionally draw on the fox's chakra and set off the seal and burn himself to death, the Uzumaki forced himself to rein in his emotions. Then reached into one of his back pockets while thanking that security within the prison was actually pretty poor: despite all prisoners being subject to strip and body cavity searches, Naruto had been able to conceal shuriken on himself, as well as this deck.

It was a custom deck. Seeing as a regular deck was fifty-one cards with a joker to them.

Joker...

Many card games omitted the card entirely; as a result, Jokers were often used as informal replacements for lost cards in a deck by simply noting the lost card's rank and suit on the joker. Other games, such as a 25-card variant of Euchre, make it one of the most important in the game.

Jokers were one of those funny things - many decks don't have jokers, and in most cases you can lose the jokers and it doesn't matter. So why include them? And where did any of the cards in a deck come from? Why are there 52 cards, with four suits and 13 cards to a suit?

The 52-card deck that we use today is a modification of part of the standard Tarot deck, made up of the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana, minus the knight cards. Probably around the 15th century, the deck started settling into the modern form we know today.

The joker, however, did not appear until sometime around the 1860s. At that time, the game of euchre was extremely popular (it was later unseated by bridge). In euchre, under the British rules, there is a card known as the Imperial Bower (or Best Bower) that trumps all others. Decks of cards began to include a special Imperial Bower card, and it later morphed into the joker card that we know today.

What made his custom deck odd was it was a fifty-two card deck, yet all of them were Jokers.

Looking at it, Naruto chuckled fondly. It brought up memories...a silver lining to a bad situation that happened when he'd learned the hard way ROOT agents had been tailing him on his training trip and had jumped him and forcibly rewrote his identity while the damned Old Perv had been out gallivanting with some prostitute or peeping on some poor hot spring in whatever village they happened to be staying in.

Come to think of it, was that alter ego they fashioned for him named Amamiya Ren or Kurusu Akira? He could never remember that detail straight. Well, whatever...either way, those events had helped Naruto learn more about the world around him, and himself, than he would have ever thought.

He sighed, eyeing the deck fondly. He'd made it as a memento, a reminder to himself of his time with a real team―no, real friends!―that he had gotten to know because of that. A way of knowing it wasn't just some dream.

A memento of his time among the Phantom Thieves, a rebellious group of outsiders looking to change the hearts of corrupt institutions while juggling high school on the side.

Well...jury was out on Goro Akechi...Akechi's Arcana was Justice, but his true personality matched that of the Reversed Justice Arcana. He was dishonest about his intentions, exhibited a black and white way of thinking, and unfairly manipulated rules and authority figures to achieve his goals.

Akechi was later revealed to be a traitor and working for Masayoshi Shido, a powerful political figure, and also Akechi's father from an illegitimate relationship. Similarly, Akechi's true persona, Loki, was often portrayed as a malevolent trickster in mythological lore; the Phantom Thieves' Personas were portrayed as anti-heroes, at worst.

However...On a deeper level, it also pointed to the injustices Akechi faced himself as a victim of his father's neglect, his mother's death, and being subjected to the mercy of corrupt foster care systems; these injustices led Akechi to lose faith in society. All the things he had ever done were just an attempt to make it so someone would see him as something good and want him around...

Naruto knew what that felt like. Akechi was a victim that was pushed past his limits. And to any that would deem him a monster...well, monsters were never born, they had to be created. If someone was only shown suffering by the world around them, then suffering would all they knew how to show in return. Rage like that needed a trigger, those feelings couldn't come from nowhere. Regardless of sinner or saint; it required a source.

In all honesty, it was easy for Naruto to say that Akechi was just like Garra used to be...a poor soul who was broken down, destroyed, and sent into madness by the sins of his father.

He sighed, putting the deck in his pocket. "...Part of me actually wants to thank Danzo, if he wasn't such scum...well...I wouldn't have met them." Leaning back in solitary cell and looking up at the ceiling, he remembered the words that had changed everything.

"I am thou, thou art I...Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice. Call upon my name, and release thy rage. Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself. Pillager of twilight―Arsene Lupin." He muttered, as he said the words, he reached up for his eyes, then stopped. "...I'm doing it again..." he lamented, knowing that the object on his face that he was thinking of wouldn't be there, no matter how many times he repeated the words.

He wondered how Lavenza was doing too... He blushed at the direction his thoughts were going.

Damn, he missed them! All of them! The Phantoms, Arsene, and Lavenza!

Pocketing the deck and scowling sourly, Naruto decided to work on his meditation...not like he had much better to do while in solitary. And it sure beat mulling over bad situations and wishing for the flecks of a false life to return to him.

As he sat down and assumed a lotus position, fists pressed together, eyes closed, he concentrated. And to his surprise...

Huh? This feeling...!

Hell~llo...! He could still gather and utilize senjutsu chakra?! This was interesting!

Then again, this damned Katon: Tenrō kinkojutsu was made to stop internal energy circulation. And senjutsu involved absorbing the energy from the surrounding natural environment and channeling it through one's own body.

As he sought to test the limits of the new-found fact that this seal wasn't designed to be used on those trained in the sage arts, while also keeping in mind to regulate the energy so as not to take in too much or it would petrify him after transforming him into a toad, he failed to notice a familiar bluish aura light up his solitary confinement cell until he felt the sensation of fabric envelop his head.

Reacting as anyone would and struggling, Naruto felt himself be dragged backwards and he heard the creak of a cell door's hinges before he vanished from Hōzuki Castle all together, leaving no trace of his presence there.

When he heard the door hinges swing again and the one dragging him let go, Naruto furiously ripped the bag off his head and looked around, more than ready to give any of the Hōzuki bozos a beating, but stopped upon seeing his surroundings were different.

While he was still obviously in a prison room, the room was circular, stone chamber that was a deep dark blue color and Naruto saw many jail cells around him, all of them empty. And the center of the room was a deep blue rug, adorned in the center of it by a large, capital V framed by a a laurel wreath, both of them golden in color.

Naruto's jaw dropped.

The Velvet room?!

What was he doing here again?!

Looking down at himself, his eyes widened in shock, then shined in sheer delight.

They'd changed! No longer was he clad in a slim, form fitting orange tracksuit outfit with black on the upper shoulders area and the color extending from around the neck and shoulders, down the front and sleeves, as well as around the waist, a white swirl on the left side, a red swirl crest on the back, orange pants, his feet were covered by black sandals that covered the instep and ankles, yet left his toes and heels exposed. Instead, his outfit consisted of a black ankle-length tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat with gold accents, black jogger-style pants, brown-black winkle pickers, and a pair of red gloves. And over his face was a black and white, birdlike domino mask that he had sorely missed.

"Greetings once more, my Trickster." A soft voice said, catching his attention and his head snapped up so fast, Naruto was sure that he'd given himself whiplash.

Standing in front of the vacant spot where his cell's door should have been was a young girl with long platinum hair and golden eyes, and her attire seemed to be designed off of a French or Victorian era maid. She wore a blue dress, and stylish matching headband with white butterfly ornaments and yellow roses. She also had noticeably pink lips. Furthermore, she carried a book entitled "Le Grimoire," under one arm, though it seemed abnormally large.

Seeing her, Naruto grinned like a complete and utter loon, "Lavenza-chan!" then swept her up into a hug, "I missed you!" he laughed.

"...Were you not expecting me?" she asked, blushing a very deep red at the embrace.

"Depends—split or whole." The masked teen said, recalling how when Yaldabaoth replaced Igor, he tore Lavenza's soul into two incomplete, twin sisters, neither of whom had remembered he was not the real Igor.

The two had been a pair of twin young girls by the names of Caroline and Justine; with platinum blonde hair and yellow eyes. Both had worn a black eye patch with the letter "V" over one of their eyes (Caroline's left eye being exposed while Justine's visible eye was the right one) and blue prison guard outfits. Justine had a long braid and a hat with the letters "O-Y-O-O," while Caroline had hair buns and a hat with the letters "X-M-R-N." The letters appeared to spell "OXYMORON." They both wore a brassard on their left arm and matching black ties. Caroline used an electric shock baton to intimidate their inmate while Justine had carried around a clipboard.

The twins appeared as "Igor's" Velvet Room assistants and acted as the correctional officers to the identity ROOT had forged for Naruto.

They had been secretly (along with both unknowingly and unwillingly) working towards Naruto's downfall on "Igor's" orders, being tricked into believing him to be a villain, but quietly grew to doubt their mission; it had come to a head after Masayoshi Shido's defeat and the Phantoms' first, fruitless battle against the empowered Holy Grail, when "Igor" ordered them to subdue Naruto, finding they couldn't in good conscience keep on fighting. That had allowed Lavenza's personality to partially manifest in them and explain that Igor and Yaldabaoth were separate people, and that the twin's true purpose was to guide humanity rather than punish it.

After the two discovered what Yaldabaoth actually was, they had Naruto help with performed an essence fusion on themselves. When they merged as one, they regained their true appearance as Lavenza.

Caroline had a very classical tsundere attitude toward him. She tended to speak to Justine in a demeaning manner. Additionally, she didn't seem to hold Naruto in very high regard, as she referred to him as "inmate," and kicked him into the Velvet Room whenever he went to enter. She was generally ill-tempered and impatient, even after the twins grew to respect Naruto as a friend. There were certain inconsistencies between how she seemed and her real personality, and as according to Justine, she was mortified when she first witnessed Persona fusion and practiced intimidating poses to use on Naruto, but was too embarrassed to use them.

Justine, in contrast, had appeared to be calm and soft-spoken but still treated the person Naruto had been turned into as her prisoner. She had been the first to question what their true purpose was, and realize something was amiss with possessing an intricate bookmark but having no books to read. While guarding an entrance to the Velvet Room, she had whittled away at her boredom by spinning her clipboard.

Lavenza spoke relatively more maturely than the twins and still maintained the soft tone of Justine, but could be impatient at times like her Caroline half. Still...she freely admitted to having fallen in love with him for having been kind to her halves when both felt incomplete and lost.

Lavenza rolled her eyes, but didn't fault him that. Besides...sneaking up on someone, throwing a bag over their head, and dragging them off somewhere in order to meet with them...her "Caroline" half would have done that!

He smiled at her, "You called me your Trickster...surprised you recognized me, given how different I look."

"You were a thief that entered into others' cognition and robbed them of either their corruptions or self-destructive urges and desires. And what good thief lacks more than one face or voice to ensure they avoid capture, my Trickster?" she responded plainly as if it were obvious.

The Uzumaki nodded, good point.

A loud clearing of the throat drew their attention and they looked to see who it was. Seeing a group of three that all bore similar features to Lavenza, Naruto frowned.

The first of them was an elegant lady that had platinum-blonde hair, pale skin and golden eyes. She was dressed entirely in dark blue with matching high heel shoes and uses black and golden accessories. Additionally, she carried around a blue book under her arm the way Lavenza did, but hers was much smaller.

The only male of the bunch wore a black-collared and long-sleeved shirt under a blue suit complemented with a blue necktie. He also wore black pants with blue lines running through the sides, black shoes, and a hat similar to a flight attendant or even a bell boy.

The final woman had a blue dress that resembled a stewardess' outfit with five black-lined circles outside small yellow circles, blue gloves, a blue attendant-like hat, black leggings and blue, knee-length boots.

"Who are you all?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.

With almost tangible levels of reluctance, Lavenza got out of her Trickster's embrace and stood next to him. Naruto frowning deeply as she winced, "Well...remember when you faced my split selves in an assessment test? One of my halves mentioned my sisters were going to get mad at me for loosing to a human...These are my siblings; Margaret, Elizabeth, and my brother Theodore..." she said, pointing them out

The now EX-ninja gawked at her. "Your family?!" Getting a nod in reply, he tenderly draped an arm over her shoulder and held her closer. "Well...guess they'll need to learn to deal with it if they have issues with me. I'm not leaving or letting you go over the opinions of others." he smiled at her and Lavenza had to fight to keep from snuggling into his side, no matter how comforting it would have been to do so.

"So, Lavenza, this is the one you meant when I heard you, as the Strength Arcana, lost to a mere human...how could you have fallen so low, little sister?"

"HEY!" Naruto shouted, getting in Margaret's face, "Back off! When we faced one another the first time, she was still ripped in two as Caroline and Justine from what that bastard control freak, Yaldabaoth, did to her! Each was only at half power and had their memory wiped! You can't blame her for that! She may be a Ruler of Power and represented by the "Strength" Arcana, but if she couldn't fight at full power because she was sabotaged by some god wannabe, how is that her fault?! And when she fought me and the others later with Igor's approval after getting put back together, we'd gotten strong enough to kill deity-class beings, anyway!" He stepped back and looked at her, frowning, "Besides...you're probably just jealous. An elevator attendant against a prison warden...no contest as to which needs to be stronger. As such, wouldn't surprise me if the real Igor made it so Lavenza-chan is more powerful than you."

"That is...I...seeing as she failed to halt the malevolent will from taking over, I very much doubt Master Igor shall disagree." Margret said stiffly.

The whiskered teen scoffed at that, "Oh, sure...mind telling me where the rest of you were, then?! If you're all servants to Igor, then where were the rest of you when he was beaten, imprisoned, and imitated?! At least Grail Boy had to directly effect Lavenza-chan since she was there when your guys' master needed you all! So if she failed Igor, then what do you call not even bring there to "fail" him at all?!"

Everyone watching the conversation gasped.

"...He just...told Margaret off...not a scrap of fear of her temper..." Theodore muttered faintly, wide eyed.

"Nice catch you got, sister; proud of you..." Elizabeth muttered, going up to and patting Lavenza on the back. Her younger sister stared, knowing it was no secret that Margaret had been highly concerned and disapproving about the relationship Elizabeth established with a human at one point. While they were all loyal to Igor, Margaret was the most career-minded workaholic among them.

Speaking of Margaret, she was left gaping as if she'd been slapped by the Trickster's words. Then after a moment to recompose herself, she looked down with her body shaking and spoke in a hollow, resigned tone, "Heh...I see...you're right on all accounts. She was unable to bring forth the full force of the arcana she represents before, and after, she was facing one she knew could surpass divine power, went into that fight expecting to possibly loose; and when our master needed us, the rest of us were nowhere to be found while Lavenza had to have such a brutal way of being kept from interfering with that imitation's goals because she held true to her duty and stood by our master's side, we are indeed guilty of that neglect." Looking up, the woman eyed him critically. "You're an odd one, Trickster, but I can see why our master placed his bets on the Fool..."

"I may be a fool, but that's because I prefer to think with my heart more than my head." Naruto said, arms crossing over his chest. Although he did know she was actually referring to what represented him among the Arcana in occult tarot: The Fool/Wild Card.

The Fool depicted a youth walking joyfully into the world. He is taking his first steps, and he is exuberant, joyful, excited. He carries nothing with him except a small sack, caring nothing for the possible dangers that lie in his path. All things considered, Naruto had to confess, recalling how he was, especially prior to his mission in Wave, it suited as an accurate depiction of himself.

"Personally, I'd advise you to fix that habit as soon as possible...but then, our master saw that as what was needed. Minds desire order, while hearts seek freedom. No wonder that self-declared "God of Control", Yaldabaoth, was defeated by someone with such a trait of thinking with one's heart about them..." Margaret mused, pursing her lips.

Lavenza smiled. Praise from someone like Margaret was hard to come by, and she was hard to convince of her own errors in judgment. Best of all was the warmth Lavenza felt blossom within her at her Trickster coming to her defense.

All of a sudden, a flash of blue lights swirled together and then the light turned into a portal and then from that portal a entire desk appeared. And sitting at the desk was a bizarre old man with a long nose, pointed ears and bulging, bloodshot eyes; dressed in a black suit with white gloves.

"Greetings, Master." The siblings all chimed in unison before they all bowed.

However, upon seeing him, Naruto tensed and whipped out a handgun; the Norinco Type 54 Tkachev he used as his starting weapon after he acquired his Persona Arsene, given to him by Ryuji when they had investigate Kamoshida's Palace with Morgana the first time, aiming at the newcomer.

At that, the attendants all gasped and tensed, some going so far as to prepare to summon Personas, "What are you doing threatening our master?!"

"Considering the last time I was pulled here, it was Yaldabaoth imitating him, how do I know this isn't another fake?" Naruto demanded.

"He isn't!" Lavenza cried, panicked over the situation. She couldn't go against her master, but the thought of turning on her Trickster was abhorrent! But with how tense this was, who could defuse things?!

As if in answer, a small figure zoomed into the room: an anthropomorphic and biped, predominantly black cat with a white muzzle, paws, and tail tip, a large head and large blue eyes, and a yellow bandana around his neck in addition to a utility belt. And in spite of being a cat, it lacked any visible cat whiskers and a cartoonishly round head.

It jumped up on the desk and stood between the weapon and the old man. "Don't you dare point a weapon at who made me, you...you...you cosplaying Joker-wannabe!" It cried, getting Naruto to stop dead.

"...Cosplay...wannabe...?!" The masked teen gawked, "Sheesh...I thought it was Ryuji you were a jerk to. But..." he holstered the firearm, "I trust Lavenza-chan, and I trust you, Morgana. You both say this Igor is the real deal, that's good enough for me." Naruto shrugged.

The long-nosed old man chuckled, not at all upset over having been staring down a gun barrel, "Peace, you all, peace. He has good reason to be mistrusting of my identity, after all, given events with the Grail."

The attendants of the Velvet Room all shared a glance and then nodded as the tention slowly lowered. Then Lavenza walked up next to the Uzumaki and stood there as if she belonged there at his side.

"Fine...can't deny that. Was part of the group that fought that distorted excuse of a god, after all. If he was just paranoid over if it was a faker causing trouble while posing as Master Igor, no way I can't understand that then..." then the catlike being glared at Naruto, "And how do you know who I am?" Morgana demanded.

"Know more than that, incarnation of hope...tell you about it over an all-you-can-eat shushi buffet, extra fatty tuna." The blond smiled at him.

As Morgana's eyes turned into stars and drool began to flow from his mouth like a fountain at the thought, Margret frowned and bopped the chibi-styled feline being on the head.

"Do not drool in the Velvet Room! It would require cleaning everything if the floor was covered in saliva from that!"

Seeing the way Margret was treating his friend, the whiskered teen frowned as he instantly decided he didn't like her. Turning back to Morgana "You ok?" he asked and got a nod in reply, "So, Morgana...how's Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir and Violet―or rather...Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, and Sumire?" The forsaken shinobi asked. He was wondering about his teammates.

"H...How do you know those names?! The Phantom Thieves...you know the true identities of their members?!"

Naruto smirked, "Tell you later, but would be easier if I was able to tell everyone at once rather than need to constantly repeat myself, so mind getting them together?"

The feline-like being eyed Naruto suspiciously, but nodded and hopped off the desk before going off.

Going back into his cell and sitting on the cot, Naruto smiled. It actually felt good to be back in the Cognitive World. And it'd feel great to get the team together again. All he had to do now was wait for Morgana and the others. Hearing the click of footsteps on stone, the masked teen looked up as someone walked into his cell. Not surprised when he saw it was Lavenza. Wordlessly, he moved over and pat next to him in clear invitation. Smiling as she sat down, the girl joined him and the pair waited with a comfortable silence between them.