Persona
A Persona 3 Crossover

Chapter One
"The Transfer Student and The Ninja!"

Sinking...yet not.

This was the feeling Naruto awoke to. Well, if you could call it a feeling.

He had opened his eyes after what seemed like an eternity to see...nothing. It wasn't nothing as a reference to infinite darkness, or what one would associate with a bleak white room. It was just...nothing. Naruto had probably spent half an hour panicking due to the odd floating sensation and the fact he couldn't even see his hands in front of his face. The floating was odd because he felt as if he was suspended in mid-air...like any movement (Not that he'd know he was moving) would have him falling into whatever was below him.

It took another half an hour to figure out how to not jab himself in the eye.

"Geez..." he groaned, trying to recall what exactly lead to his begin trapped in this 'situation'.

He had just returned to Konoha if his fuzzy memory served him like he hoped. "How nostalgic." he had said while gazing over his home village. The memories rushed to him and all he could do was grin, even despite the horrible memories that haunted his nightmares. And before that smile could falter Sakura, of all people, found him.

She looked a bit different from before, her outfit both showing off her developing figure and being comfortable enough to function in. He smirked remembering how she was surprised at his being taller than her. It was only natural since ero-sennin weened him off ramen the first year. Eating healthy like he was, he would be surprised if Sasuke was still taller.

Admittedly Naruto had been trying to drop his crush on Sakura, finally seeing how she'd never see him in that light. But seeing her again just brought back that old feeling and when she asked "Do I look more womanly to you?"

Argh! She just looked so cute then! The pose, the way her outfit clung to her body, the look in her eyes...

But Naruto could still remember when they were kids. He'd always tell her how pretty she was only to be beaten. Only Sasuke...he couldn't even compliment her without her screeching about Sasuke.

So, to save himself the beating he thought he knew was coming he said this: "Don't worry Sakura-chan! You look exactly the same as I remember!"

Oh, boy was he a dumbass.

The cute look on Sakura's face morphed into a visage of pure unadulterated rage and, being the screaming banshee she was, she punched him. Hard. While screeching.

Naruto, while digging Konoha a new ditch with his face, was reminded of Tsunade oddly enough. Minus the screeching of course.

Before she could continue Konohamaru came to his rescue, or so he thought. The boy immediately did the sexy jutsu, an enhanced version he'd come up with. And though Naruto approved, he felt two things. One: Sakura's killer intent baring down on him. Two: Konohamaru still had a lot of work ahead of him.

"Konohamaru..." He tried his best to look like an adult. "Those techniques...they're childish..."

The look on his little students face almost broke his heart. "Besides..." He leaned in in hopes Sakura wouldn't hear.

"I have even more perverted techniques now!" Sadly, Sakura heard every word and stomped her way over to beat him into a bloody pulp.

"Oh that's not a problem Nii-san! Look at this!" Konohamaru did, guess what, Kage Bunshin. That's right, Naruto's own signature technique. He was so proud! But then his student surprised him again, both him and his clone transforming into two beautiful nude woman...hugging each other. And Kissing.

It even made Sakura pause.

"Not bad. Nice work." Naruto had said, almost forgetting Sakura who had, by then, shaken out of her stupor.

"What the hell!? Your a little pervert, too!?" She stormed over toward Konohamaru who of course retaliated. He altered the transformation to become two guys hugging. One of which was Sasuke.

Naruto resisted the urge to puke...and butcher Konohamaru. Sakura however grinned, "PERFECT!" She even had a nosebleed...

Our blond hero took this chance to get the hell out of there.

Later he had run into a guy in a trench coat, shino, though he didn't know at the time. The bug user merely glanced and said, "It is good to see you again Naruto."

Said blond stared at him in confusion, his blunt personality overtaking him. "Just who the hell are you?"

The boy's eyebrow twitched.

"How unsightly of you Naruto, not to remember a comrade." a bit of irritation in his voice.

Naruto chuckled at that now, remembering that it was the way Shino talked that triggered his memory. The Aburame didn't seem quite that amused, especially when Kiba rode over on Akamaru, both whom were instantly recognized by Naruto. 'He remembered Kiba and Akamaru instantly...'

Kiba had asked if either of them seen Hinata who was, at the time, watching from around the corner. Hiding like usual.

She just couldn't face Naruto just yet, she still had that stutter and her heart felt like it would explode. Sadly Naruto took this chance to poke his head around the corner, "There you are! Why are you hiding?"

Hinata glanced at him, blushed, and then her eyes rolled up as she fainted. Well...it was progress. Right?

Meeting Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji went in a strangely odd fashion. He spotted Ino walking down the road but, while he was simply staring at the girl, she merely walked up and hugged him. Ino hated him.

This didn't seem to occur to the platinum blond as she grinned. "Hey Naruto! Wow, look at you!" She held her chin in thought.

"You look so different." Naruto looked different? Did she even look in the mirror this morning?

Ino had grew. Though she still was growing her body had developed a lot more than Sakura. He noted now that Hinata had "developed" the most.

He had cursed himself then when he took in her appearance, his eyes lingering on her legs a bit too long(Damn ero-sennin), before mumbling a rather lame line. Even for him.

"....Hi."

That's it? Well if he knew he would be proud to know Ino had expected him to drool and ogle her openly like a most guys did. Unlike Sakura, she had quickly lost feelings for Sasuke, feeling her ninja duty was to treat him as a traitor. Most people though she didn't take being a ninja seriously like Sakura but she loved being a shinobi. And she loved her village.

So when Sasuke left the village for Orochimaru and nearly killed a fellow ninja to do so, needless to say, her image of her knight in shining armor was shattered. Left behind was a very insane, very emotionally wrecked, Uchiha with a stick up his ass.

She left Naruto to catch up with Sakura who she was having breakfast with.

Shikamaru and Chouji found Naruto at pretty much the same time. They were just in time to be attacked along with Naruto, all three finding their opponent to be a thin pale boy. Naruto would have sworn he saw him before. The three teens attacked as a single unit, quickly closing in on the boy who disposed of the Nara and Akimichi with odd paintings.

Paintings...seriously, who attacks with paintings?

Naruto had gotten farther than them though, his Kage Bunshin swarming the odd boy who was then, very thoroughly beaten. Sadly enough it seemed he was just a clone.

To have a clone attack with jutsu, Naruto figured he had to give that clone a large amount of chakra. So Naruto figured it was his win since the actual boy would have been beaten in his weakened, near chakra-less, state if found.

Naruto supposed not everyone could have near limitless chakra and stamina.

Skipping ahead Naruto remembered the lead they had on Sasuke's whereabouts. That boy, Sai, had been put on their team. Not a very good replacement for their ex-teammate, something Naruto and Sakura agreed on.

While searching though the many, many doors Naruto found himself in a small...white room. Their were odd objects he'd never seen before all over, jutsu, books on subjects that boggled his mind. He faintly remembered a huge seal in a smaller room hidden in the wall..everything glowed a velvet blue and then...

He was here.

Naruto crossed his arms, or at least tried to, and frowned. Was this a genjutsu? Was that seal used to trap victims for Orochimaru's twisted experiments? No that can't be, the door was well hidden. He had merely stumbled across it meaning it wasn't a trap. They intended on no one finding that room so obviously the seal couldn't produce a genjutsu. Unless Orochimaru liked being stuck in infinite nothingness.

Naruto didn't like it on bit.

4 - 6 - MON

Arisato Minato stared blankly at the window of the subway as his music blasted in his ears. It'd been a long time since he'd been here, his original home. Even with his music so loud he could here his stop being called and stepped out and into the station.

This was going to be an ordeal he knew, meeting new people, going to a new school. He was even required to live in a dorm, not that he had much choice. He had no parents to live with after all.

He glanced at the clock over head as it slowly ticked, its hands clicking as they moved. Faintly he wondered, what exactly was in store for him here, his mp3 cutting off suddenly. He didn't notice as everything seemed to darken around him, taking on an odd greenish tint. He was more worried about finding replacement batteries. "Stupid thing."

He completely ignored the glowing coffins surrounding him in place of the many people that surrounded him seconds before.

But he did freeze when he felt a strange sense of...nothingness.

He had a very bad feeling...

"Hm? What's that?"

Naruto looked around noticing something. Just a few seconds before that empty nothingness was filled with infinite darkness, though oddly enough he could finally see himself. But now, just below him there was a tiny glowing light. He didn't know how but slowly he was floating toward it, the light growing as he got closer.

Naruto then noticed it was a boy around his age. He had blue hair and look to have as much motivation as Shikamaru on a bad day.

He then noticed the light surrounding the boy was glowing even brighter and that he couldn't stop himself from getting closer. He was pulled into the boy's head who immediately stiffened.

Naruto felt the darkness slip away and felt his feet touch solid ground. "Finally I-"

He glanced around himself, the world colored a green tint with coffins surrounded him. Where had the boy gone? And where was he now?

"Oh crap. Oh craaaaap." Suddenly he felt so...weak. And afraid.

This couldn't be happening! He was surrounded by infinite nothingness, something he'd grown accustom to, but instead of returning him to the room...why!? Where was he now?

Was this really a genjutsu? It couldn't have transported him somewhere right?

"Y-Yeah...it has to be a genjutsu." He shakily made the ram seal. But something was wrong. He couldn't feel any chakra.

None.

Naruto tried to calm his breathing, "Oh craaap. Where the hell am I!? Why can't I feel my chakra!?" It was then that Naruto noticed he wasn't where his usual clothing.

He had on was seemed like a blue jacket and pants with a dark red tie. He could feel a t-shirt under the jacket but...what the hell was this tiny object around his neck? It was like a those little tubes doctors use, but it had tiny buttons and two earpieces, both around his ears. Above him was a clock that read exactly...

12:00

The hand that counted seconds refused to move. It must be broken.

Wait a second! "I remember! Genjutsu's can be dispelled with physical pain!"

Yes, he figured it out! Grinning Naruto eyed a nearby support beam and ran toward it, head down as if to headbutt it.

BAM!

"O-o-o-ouuuch!" Naruto rubbed his sore head and frowned at the metal pole he'd just dented. Okay..so maybe this wasn't a genjutsu. If not then...what is it?

He stood up and hobbled toward the stairs he noticed earlier. "That room. Wait, didn't those book talk about...time travel?" He shook his head and winced when he upset his growing migraine.

"No, I think it was inter-dimensional...something." Was that it? Had that seal really sent him to another dimension? Jiraiya had talked to him about the near limitless possibilities seals held and now Naruto was beginning to believe him. Though it was hard to believe he was practically in another world Naruto knew he couldn't let himself panic anymore. If he was stuck here he would have to fit in until he could find a way back.

He had to bring Sasuke back after all.

Despite the headache Naruto couldn't help but feel something in the back of his mind push forward. Words.

Transfer.

Gekkoukan High School.

Dorm.

Pocket.

"Pocket? Transfer?" The words seemingly held no meaning to Naruto as he wandered down the street. There were even more coffins, the eerie red moon hanging overhead, and what looked suspiciously like blood made this all too creepy. Naruto almost resisted the odd thought in his head telling him to check his clothes when he noticed something sticking out of his front pocket.

"Pocket..." He glanced over the crumpled paper. It seemed like both an acceptance letter and instructions.

The words now made sense. Apparently he was supposed to be a transfer student moving into a nearby dorm where he will live. He would also be a 'junior' at Gekkoukan High school, whatever that was. Question was...why him? The papers welcomed "Arisato Minato" not him. But he was wearing these clothes, and the paper seemed to belong to him. Unless he had mugged, killed, and disposed of the dead body of this Minato in his sleep...nah.

So he was supposed to be someone else in this world? Naruto suffocated the voice that told him to have a mental break down.

A different world. A world were his own didn't exist.

No Sakura.

No Jiraiya or Tsunade.

No Kakashi-sensei.

No one from his world existed, not even him. In this world he was forced to be someone else completely. What about this Minato guy? Was he running around in Naruto's place now? Or did Naruto just completely wipe him from existence as well while replacing him? What about his precious people?

Naruto shook his head, his migraine long gone, and kept moving. He couldn't afford to focus on anything besides returning to his world. Hopefully everything will be okay when he found a way back.

He ignored the feeling nothing would be the same.

Using the paper he found his way to a building with the matching numbers from the paper. 2107. It looked just like the picture.

"I'll have to work hard...if they suspect anything I won't be able to explain myself. Even if they might seem weird...I'll have to fit in." He reminded himself with a frown. He remembered his years in the academy a small smile on his lips. One of the few things he excelled at was the art of deception. Only Iruka was able to tell he was lying, or being fake.

Iruka-sensei is gone, too. That annoying part of his subconscious reminded him.

Naruto, feeling confused and angry, opened the door in front of him with ease. Images of coffins, blood, eerie shadows, and the red moon long forgotten.

Inside was equally as dark as outside, but didn't look too weird. It reminded Naruto of a civilian house in Konoha, the furniture arranged around a table. Thin walls separated the room into sections, a television in the corner of one of the walls. To his left was what looked like a desk, the one thing that made him think that it looked more like a hotel.

"You're late. I've been waiting a long time for you."

Naruto stared in surprise at the young boy that he knew wasn't there a moment ago. "W-What?

The boy just smiled. "Don't worry, your supposed to be here." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I-" The boy held up a hand for him to stop.

"Never mind. Look." He waved his hand over a small thin book, another thing Naruto hadn't noticed until now. Just who was this boy? Naruto was a trained shinobi, trained by one of the strongest ninja in the world. How was it that this boy was so unreadable?

Never the less Naruto moved over to the desk the boy was standing behind, again noticing that this felt like being in a hotel. Like when you sign in.

"Don't be afraid, it's just a contract.." The boy smiled again. "All it says is that, from here on out you will accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff."

"My actions? What if I don't sign this?" The boy shook his head, his smile never faulting.

"Then you won't be able to see them." Naruto was about to ask who "them" was when the boy handed him a pen. He could have refused but something made him touch the pen to paper.

Naruto noticed everything was in a foreign language, something he shouldn't be able to read. But he could. In fact, both he had the boy were just speaking that language rather fluently.

"Fine." He mumbled, signing his name. It felt different from the usual kanji...his handwriting twirling and looping.

The boy grinned, looking oddly similar to Naruto himself. "No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end." Naruto watches in surprise as the shadows seemed to surround the boy as he stepped back. With a flick of his wrist the contract vanished.

"You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." The shadows swarmed the boy leaving just his arm reaching out to Naruto.

"And so...it begins."

The boy vanished as the shadows swallowed him whole. Naruto stood, shocked at what had just happened, his mind wondering again just was kind of mess had he gotten himself into. He twitched and turned toward the girl that had just shown up. Unlike the boy Naruto could actually sense her coming. Her steps were loud and rushed and her breathing was loud.

"Who's there!?"

She didn't bother to try and slow it. Obviously, she wasn't a ninja.

She was wearing a pink jacket and a brown skirt, but what had Naruto staring was the bow she was wearing. Or was it a tie?

The girl stared at him with a calculating gaze, obviously trying to determine just who Naruto was. Suddenly she unclipped something from her right thigh and was about to pull out an odd shiny object when-

"Wait!" Naruto blinked when all the lights in the room flicked on at once...even the weird thing around his neck turned on. His ears were filled with loud music he'd never heard before, yet he found it oddly catchy. Slowly he pulled the earpieces off.

The girl whirled around in surprise to see a red-haired girl walk up beside her. She cross her arms with a smirk.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late." She sighed. "My name is Kirijou Mitsuru. I'm one of the students living in this dorm."

The girl next to 'Mitsuru' frowned. "Who is he?"

"He's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign him here." She put her hand on her hips. "He'll eventually be placed in the boys dorm."

"...Is it alright for him to be here?"

"...I guess we'll see."

Mitsuru glanced back at a very confused Naruto, looking as if she'd just remembered he was there. "This is Takeba Yukari. She'll be a junior this spring like you." The girl stared silently at Naruto, the distrust very obvious in her eyes and body language. The blond just stared back, equally as distrustful...she had tried to pull a weapon on him.

If she had any idea how quickly Naruto could have killed her, Yukari would have been thanking Mitsuru.

"...I'm Yukari." She mumbled.

Naruto was tempted to just blow her off completely and be rude. He was a pro at pissing people off, but he decided if he was to fit in he'd need to be friendly. He had no idea how valuable having friends could be in this world as he wasn't taking any chances.

He smiled foxily. "Nice to meet you!"

Yukari was obviously thrown off her game as she looked at him, quickly bowing and mumbling her own "Nice to meet you too." Mitsuru just smiled and gestured toward the stairs behind her.

"It's pretty late. Your room is on the second floor." She looked at Yukari expectantly. The brunette looked confused before she seemed to get the hint.

"I'll take you to your room." Naruto shrugged.

He noticed Yukari kept glancing back at her as they trekked up the stairs, her eyes eying his birthmarks no doubt. Or maybe it was his hair. Either way they reached his room quickly at the end of the hall on the second floor.

"Pretty easy to remember, right?" She was trying to be friendly he guess. "So, any questions?"

Of course he had questions. Like, who was that kid and if he lived here too. What was up with the red moon and coffins? And just where in the living hell was he? But Naruto kept those to himself, no doubt she'd think he was weird if he mentioned any of that. That stuff might be normal to her. "No, not really."

"Okay, if you had any you could just ask me in the morning." She turned to leave but stopped. "Uh, I didn't quite get your name."

Naruto grinned. "Uzumaki Naruto." She nodded.

"Uh...Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"On your way here...was everything okay?" Immediately he was under that eerie red moon again.

"...It was fine." He lied. Yukari seemed to accept this and walked off.

"See you in the morning."

Naruto nodded and opened the door to 'his' room and walked in. It was clean and apparently 'his' stuff was already moved in. He frowned, ignoring everything and falling into the comfortable bed. Wherever he was it definitely wasn't Konoha, or any of the Elemental Countries. As much as he didn't want to believe it Naruto was in fact, in another world completely. He wondered what Sakura was thinking right now? What about Jiraiya and Tsunade? Were they worried about him or did they not even notice he was gone?

He shook his head. Maybe he was thinking too hard. No matter how hard he thought about it Konoha was very far away now and he wasn't going back anytime soon.

Well, he'd just have to blend in for a few days maybe. This world couldn't be too confusing could it?

He was Uzumaki Naruto. There was no way he'd even be tempted to give up!

Believe it.

Sorry, I couldn't help that last bit.

This an idea that came to me while, obviously, playing Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 A very good game. I know this might seem a little confusing but it's just the first chapter; A prologue. I merely wanted to show how Naruto got into this new world and I tried (Tried being the key word) to describe how he'd feel about this. Coming to a new world I'd be tempted to freak out but I know that wouldn't help me get back. I figured Naruto would feel the same and would focus on getting back home instead of having a mental break down.

Ask questions or just tell me what you thought of it, I'd love some reviews. Oh, and any experienced writers with time on their hands can contact me if you'd like to help this story.

- poi -