Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Naruto. This is strictly a fan made story.

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There was a car, or rather, a large limo driving in mist so think, one cannot see threw it. A young blonde found himself sitting in a seat, opposite to a creepy looking man, and a lovely woman.

"Welcome to the Velvet room." The man spoke with such peace. "It would seem that we have a guest with an intriguing destiny…My name is Igor, I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter… It may be, that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Me?" The blonde spoke. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Do you believe in fortune telling?"

He took out a deck of tarot cards and shuffled them hastily.

"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different… Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?"

Igor spread the cards.

"Hm… The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent. The card indicating the future beyond that is…"

He flipped another card.

"The Moon, in the upright position. This card represents 'hesitation' and 'mystery' … Very interesting indeed. It seems you will encounter misfortune upon your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests, to ensure that does not happen."

Igor made the tarot cards disappear.

"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you. This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."

"My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey."

"We shall attend to the details another time. Until then, farewell…"

Haze filled the room, and Naruto found himself leaned against the window of a train, with his music player running. The train moved swiftly across endless landscape. Naruto looked over to see that Gaara was quietly reading his book.

(Flashback)

After a mission together, both Naruto and Gaara were attacked with a special jutsu that sealed their abilities to release any chakra what-so-ever, meaning that they could no longer use any jutsu. Tsunade tried, but was unable to do anything that would remove whatever was disabling their powers. Even the demons inside them were weakened greatly by this attack. Things seemed grim, as Tsunade said that they may just have to retire early, until Sakura made a suggestion.

"Why don't we give them a vacation from here? I'm sure if they get some rest, their chakra will unseal. Listen, some family friends of mine, the Dojimas, live in a quiet, rural town, and I just got word from them that they were able to make a guest room. I'm sure if I asked, they'd be willing to house you two for a while."

After a lot of talk, it was decided that Naruto and Gaara would spend one year in the town, Inaba, in hopes that their chakra would unseal.

(Return)

"So, Gaara, what are you thinking about spending a year out in the middle of no where?"

"It might be a pain… but I guess it can't be helped. At least we'll be safer away from the ninja villages, since we can't fight back."

In truth, Gaara was actually looking forward to spending some time away from all that chaos, and getting some time to relax. Especially since he could do it with his only real friend, Naruto. Ever since the chunin exams, Gaara and Naruto became friends, and have grown closer to one another.

The train pulled into its station, and the redhead and blonde casually waltzed out, not really knowing where to go. Thankfully, Gaara spotted a tall man holding a sign that read, "Naruto and Gaara." They both began walking towards the tall, thin, almost tired-looking man with a burnt out cigarette in his mouth.

"Ah, you two must be Naruto and Gaara. When I heard Sakura needed a place for her friends to stay, I was happy to help."

"Thank you, we're sorry to burden you." Gaara blurted out.

"Nonsense. Sakura's parents are good friends of mine, and when she called, saying you both needed some vacation time, I was more then happy to offer up our extra room. You'll have to share it though, I don't exactly have any more room."

"Don't worry about that, we'll be fine! Right Gaara?"

"Sure…"

"Well, if you need something, just ask okay? Alright, let's go, Nanako-"

There was a slight gasp coming from behind Dojima's legs. A little brunette girl with pigtails,

and a bright pink dress was shyly hiding behind her father.

"Ah, you'll have to excuse Nanako, she gets a little shy around strangers. Nanako, don't be shy,

this is Naruto and Gaara, they're friendly."

"Um… hi…"

"Hey their Nanako-chan! Don't be afraid, I know Gaara looks a little scary, but he's a big softy once

you get to know him."

"I beg your pardon!?"

Naruto and Dojima shared a quick laugh, and Nanako gave a weak smile.

They all piled in the small car, on their way to a new home for a year. Gaara sat in the front,

while Naruto stayed in the back with Nanako. It was a quiet, cloudy drive, Naruto listening to his music,

Gaara reading a book, Nanako gazing out the window at the nostalgic blur of scenery, and Dojima saying

something of little interest here and there.

"Um… Daddy, can we stop at the gas station on the way back, I need to use the bathroom."

"Sure Nanako. I guess it wouldn't hurt to fill up the tank either…"

After only a few more silent minutes of driving, Dojima had pulled into a gas station. Everyone

but Gaara got out.

"Ok, Nanako, you want me to go with you?"

"I've got it Dad." Nanako spoke as she was already walking into the station.

"Fill it up with regular please."

"No problem sir." The female attendant politely answered. "So, you must be from out of town."

She directed to Naruto. "There really isn't much to do around here, but I guess it would be part of the

charm. If you've got some free time, we are looking for new employees. But don't worry, we don't care if

you're still in high school."

"Oh, yea, maybe."

"Well, let me be the first to welcome you to Inaba."

She put out her hand for a shake, and Naruto politely accepted it. Her grip was firm and tight.

Shortly after, Nanako returned from the rest room.

"Um… you don't look so good… did you get car sick?" She directed to Naruto."

"Now that you mention it, I do have a little bit of a headache…"

They all piled back into the car and drove off, the attendant waving goodbye. It was only about

another ten minutes before they arrived at the Dojima residence. Naruto and Gaara stepped in and removed their shoes at the entrance, following Dojima and Nanako. It was a small little home, with a kitchen and living area attached, and a tiny corridor next to the entrance, with two bedrooms, and a staircase to the extra room where Naruto and Gaara would be staying.

"You'll find that I've already fixed up your new room so that its already furnished. Just unpack your stuff in the closet. I'm going to get dinner ready-"

"You mean I'LL be getting dinner ready." Nanako interrupted.

"Oh, yea, Nanako will be getting dinner ready. So come back down when you finish unpacking."

Everyone but Gaara let out a chuckle.

"Thanks, sir, but my head is a little fuzzy… I think I'm going to go to bed early."

"Ok then Naruto, I hope you feel better tomorrow. Oh! That reminds me, you'll be starting school tomorrow. Your uniforms are on the couch in your room, you should probably leave by seven tomorrow. I also left you some directions, it's not a big town, but I figured you'd like to know where the school is."

Naruto said goodnight to the others and went up to bed. He found two futons against the opposite wall of the room, then pulled out one and collapsed on top of it, without even changing clothes."

Back downstairs, Nanako had prepared a small, easy dinner, and the three of them were sitting around the table.

"So, I didn't get many details, but I heard from Sakura that the work you've been doing has been stressing the both of you a lot. I know it's difficult where you live, but please make yourself at home. Tell the same to Naruto when he feels better to."

"Thank you for your kindness. I know you don't exactly know us, but we greatly appreciate what you're doing for us."

"Come on, there's no need to be so formal. You're making Nanako all tense. Just relax, it's no trouble at all. Let's just eat."

Dojima's phone rang the second they reached to eat.

"Damn it… Hello, Dojima speaking…"

Nanako and Gaara just watched as he talked with someone, probably from work.

"Damn it… Looks like something came up at the station, you two will have to start without me."

Dojima started towards the door.

"Nanako, it's raining, what did you do with the laundry?"

"I already brought it in."

He just walked out after that.

"My dad works as a detective, so he's always getting calls to go out somewhere. He's never really home."

Nanako turned on the TV, it was the news. First, it talked about the weather, lots of rain tomorrow.

"Let's eat!"

Just as they began eating, the news changed. Apparently, they were talking about a recent affair a man named Taro Namatame, a city council secretary had with a local news reporter, Mayumi Yamino. Gaara wasn't all that interested, so he just at his meal, which, was surprisingly delicious considering a seven year old cooked it.

"This is boring…" Nanako blurted out, referring to the TV.

She changed the channel to what appeared to be a commercial.

"At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products. ~Every day's great at your Junes!~"

Nanako quickly repeated the extremely catching tune, with a big smile on her face. The first one Gaara was able to see.

"Are you going to eat?"

Gaara realized that he hadn't touched his food in a while, he was too busy paying attention to her. Worried that he might have insulted her, Gaara quickly dug into his food.

* * * * *

Naruto was surrounded by fog, lots and lots of thick fog.

Where am I? What is this place…?

He started walking through the almost opaque mist, when a strange shadow of some sort appeared. It was silent, yet at the same time, Naruto could hear exactly what it spoke, perfectly.

"Do you seek the truth…?"

He just continued to run thought the thick fog. The voice appeared again.

"If it's the truth you desire, then come and find me…"

It's coming from up ahead…

Naruto kept running, and suddenly found himself up against some sort of door. It was square, perfectly square, and had a pattern like you are looking into a tunnel, but it's just a flat surface, with the colors red and black. Even without his previous ninja abilities, he could still sense something was definitely behind the door. Naruto opened it, and things got very hazy. There was a sword in his hand, and he was facing that same shadowy figure from before.

"So… you are the one pursuing me… Hmhmhm… try all you like…"

Naruto ran up and tried to slash, it made contact, but the damage was minimal.

"Hmm… it seems you can see a little, despite the fog…"

Naruto tried to attack again, but had the same result.

"I see… Indeed, you possess an interesting quality…"

Again he attacked with the sword, and again there was the same effect.

"But… you will not catch me so easily… If what you seek is 'truth,' then your search will be even harder…"

This time, the figure called out "Bewildering Fog," and the area soon became surrounded and unimaginably thick fog. Regardless, Naruto tried again to attack, but it wouldn't connect.

"Everyone sees what they want to… And the fog only deepens…"

Naruto tried again to attack, but there was still no contact. It was like trying to battle air.

"…Will we meet again…? At a place other then here… Hmhm… I look forward to it…"

Naruto began to lose consciousness.

"Get back here!" He shouted.

Gaara looked at him oddly. They were in their new room.

"Bad dream?"

"No, strange dream… I was chasing this shadow who kept talking about me trying to uncover the truth about something… What about you, were you able to get any sleep?"

"Oh, yes, just a little, it's been getting better, slowly. I unpacked for you, before I went to sleep."

"Thanks Gaara, you didn't have to."

"Don't worry about it. You should probably go back to sleep, we have to get up and get ready in about two hours."

"Yea, ok. Night Gaara."

"Goodnight."