"What are we doing here, daddy?" the blonde asked, worried for the person on the other side of the one-way mirror. There, dressed in his customary orange jacket and pants, was another blond of her class, whisker marks plainly visible.
Yes, she barely talked with the boy, but he was still her classmate.

"How is your relationship with him, Ino?" Yamanaka Inoichi asked seriously. It was clear something serious had happened to the boy, since her father was never that serious around her.

But… why was the boy himself looking calmer than she had ever seen him before?

"Inexistent." Ino said, trying to act professional. She was a genin now, and she was clearly expected to act as one for now from her father's actions. "All I know about him is that he has a crush on Sakura, plays pranks and was doing badly in class. Everything else is hearsay."

"Tell me this hearsay." Inoichi requested, still in a neutral tone.

"That he is an orphan. That he is a bad person and should be avoided. That he has anger problems and everyone should avoid making him angry. Personally I don't believe in anything but the orphan part. He was too much of a happy clown all the time we have been in the same class to believe he can be like that."

Inoichi just nodded. "He is an orphan, yes. However, there is a deeper reason for his 'happy clown' antics, as you put them."

Ino blinked. She… never thought much about what could be behind his actions. Something she would probably feel bad for later, since Yamanakas were supposed to be specialists in the mind.

"And how do your classmates respond to this?"

"They usually avoid him. Some say nasty words to drive him away from them. Sakura is sometimes physical in her rejections when he asks her on dates, but usually just avoids him too."

"Funny, in my time being considered a 'bad boy that should be avoided' would get him lots of girls." Her father said jokingly. "And you?" he asked after a cough.

"I was neutral to him. Didn't avoid but didn't try to become friends either. Some words of chastisement when he landed the whole class in trouble with his pranks, tops."

"I see." She didn't hear disappointment in his voice, but didn't hear approval either.

"Tell me Ino, when you get that treatment you described, and without a family to turn to, how would you feel?"

"…lonely…" Ino replied, a little ashamed. "Would try to do something to get some attention."

"Even being laughed at or screamed at was probably good enough for him." Inoichi agreed.

"So that's hy he was the class clown…"

But how was this related to…

"Daddy, did he do something bad for attention? Something… nastier than pranks?"

"Many would." He replied, looking at the boy. "But not him. No, his problem was that someone gave him attention."

Her stomach fell like a stone. She wasn't the most attentive of people, but she was always trying to stop any bullying. It is how she initially became friends with Sakura. Avoidance was one thing, but…

"Positive attention."

The shame subsided, but her blood still ran hot.

Manipulation.

Someone tried to manipulate him into doing something bad for approval.

"Who was it? What did they make him do?"

"Your ex-teacher Touji Mizuki. Convinced him to steal the Scroll of Forbidden Seals from the Hokage under the excuse of it being part of a substitute test for graduating."

"What will happen to him?" Her heart went to Naruto. He was a bit annoying with his pranks, but now she saw his reason for doing them. Also, they had always been taught to trust their teachers, having this trust betrayed like that…

"Well, he succeeded in stealing the scroll from the Hokage himself, under what he believed to be orders, so the Hokage would have considered this as enough for graduating as a future infiltration specialist. Touji was arrested thanks to your other teacher, Umino Iruka, who assisted Naruto-kun."

"Uh, daddy, don't you mean Naruto assisted Umino-sensei?"

Inoichi gave her a joking smile. "The other reason he graduated."

Ino was… to surprised was putting it mildly. Naruto defeated Mizuki-sen—Mizuki by himself? Even with some assistance that was impressive…

"But why tell me daddy? Why bring me here?"

"Because of what he did after it." Inoichi replied. "Touji's lie also included a way to avoid Naruto telling anyone about it until he had time to steal the scroll from him: Naruto had to learn at least one jutsu from the scroll before being found by another teacher."

"That's impossible. Even if he succeeded, they are dangerous!"

"Which is what Touji was going for. But it bit him back, for Naruto-kun succeeded not once, but twice."

The girl was surprised. Naruto, amongst the worse of the class, learned not one, but two techniques in a couple of hours? And if they had been sealed they weren't your run-of-the-mill techniques either…

"The first was a solid clone technique that takes a lot from the user. He used it masterfully to defeat Mizuki…"

Ino blinked. He defeated a chuunin with… clones?

"And after getting home, to perform the second one."

She stiffened. Finally, the reason she was there.

"He summoned his Persona."

Ino turned quickly to the boy. The boy sitting more in peace than she ever saw him do.

Inoichi knew he didn't need to say anything else.

"A-are you sure he is sane?"

"Yes. He was successful. Which is why you are here. We feel he would be more comfortable talking about it with someone his own age."

She took a deep breath, preparing herself mentally. It was hard to believe that, after all the Yamanakas that failed the Persona Summoning Ritual…

IIIII

Naruto was bored. He had already told everything that happened to the old man Hokage, why was he still waiting there?

Because the people that created the ritual deserve to know about it, yeah… He still felt like a prisoner though.

He briefly wondered what would happen if they disapproved of him, would the little guy be locked away again? Could it be locked away again? What would happen to his mind if they did this?

All these thoughts and many more went through his mind as he resisted the urge to summon his persona. It was a bit tiring, but he felt much more comfortable with it around.

And then, she entered the room.

"Ino? What are you doing here?"

The blond girl entered quietly, a white labcoat covering her usually purple clothes, a clipboard on her hand. A small smile was on her lips, but her pale complexion made it clear it was as much for her nerves as to calm him.

"Hello Naruto. I'm... well, I'm a Yamanaka, and we are sort of the head specialists on the village, so… that is…"

"So you are the village shrinks and you are going to examine me?" he said, trying to help.

"Yeah, so…"

Ino was nervous. She knew that. And Naruto clearly noticed it from the frown on his face.

"Ino, are you alright? You're not acting like yourself."

"Y-yes, I mean…" she took a deep breath, before admitting: "No, no I'm not alright. This is my first time talking with someone professionally like this that is not my father, he is watching me make a fool of myself, and you probably have no idea how important what you did is for my clan, do you?"

"Sorry," he admitted, scratching the back of his head while smiling, "not a clue."

Ino couldn't resist it, she sighed.

"Naruto, through the years, tens of Yamanakas tried doing what you did, and each and every time they failed, many going mad and violent in the process."

"Uhm, sorry, I didn't do anything special, just followed the instructions…"

Ino sighed, putting her face between her hands in frustration.

"Look, maybe if you give me a list of questions, I could try it again and—"

"No!" Ino screamed, jumping from her seat. "Are you crazy? What did I just say about people going mad doing it?"

"But how else am I going to be able to talk to that Igor guy again? I mean, he did say we were somewhere between awake and asleep, but—"

"Wait! Back up! Who?"

"The guy that we talk to when we use the ritual? Well, more like are sent to him from what he said, but... Man, it's hard to explain." He started scratching the back of his head again, trying to force himself to put in words what happened.

"Tell me everything that happened when you did it." Ino ordered, grabbing her pen and clipboard tightly. "Everything!"

"Ok, ok, geez…"

IIIII

So, I had just finished learning the Kage Bunshin, you see, and was going to train with it so it was perfect… but while I was rerolling the scroll, I saw the description for this ritual thing. It seemed very easy, and… Well, I had just learned Kage Bunshin, so I thought "why not"?

I was going to try it when Iruka sensei appeared, so I forgot it for a while… But then I got home and couldn't sleep with all that happened, and then remembered that I never did do it. So, I jumped up and tried it.

I had to be relaxed, so I tried that leaf exercise they give us at the beginning of the academy. It always made me a bit sleepy… Well, before falling asleep, I did the technique.

At first nothing happened, but then after a while I felt something like a shock, and something pulling on my head, hard! Next thing I saw was darkness.

When I woke up, I was inside something that looked like a sewer. There were walls made of stone bricks and water reaching past my ankles. The water was clean though, and there were yellow lights here and there. So, having no idea what happened, I started walking…

It was a labyrinth.

Eventally, I reached a big room, the only place that wasn't more tunnels for hours, so I was pretty sure there was going to be an exit there. That's when I heard his voice…

"It's useless."

Or rather, my voice.

I turned around, surprised, and saw another me. Me as I was when I was younger.

"Who… who are you?" I asked, but I already knew.

Well, his answer still surprised me.

"I am you. The real you.
I am a shadow. The true self."

"O…kay… And what are you doing here?"

"Me?" my shadow asked, he seemed surprised. "I live here. You are the one that came to me."

"Oh… right. Something about that jutsu to unleash my true self in battle or something?"

"Yes… Like you could." He said, laughing at me.

"What you say? You of all people are underestimating me too?"

"What is there to underestimate? You suck and you know it!" I admit, that coming from him stung me a bit, but I learned to deal with it. But what I didn't expect was for him to say "See? This is what I am talking about!"

"What are you talking about?"

"How you'd rather hide your true self here to pretend there is no problem. How you plaster that smile on your face like a mask to pretend you are not hurt by the way everyone treates you. How you scream you are going to be Hokage even though you know you are a terrible ninja.
How you pretend you don't want to make everyone around you suffer like you do."

I held my breath. Not because he was right, I couldn't deny it, but because… well, as I said to him,

"This is the most stupid thing I ever heard."

The little guy was acting like I struck him, but then started smiling. It was creepy.

"So you deny it? Even you deny me?"

I held my breath, how to explain it? The guy claimed to be me, but if he was he would already know, right?

But for some reason, I felt that it coming from me was much more important than just knowing it.

"Look, I won't deny I hate how I am treated by everyone. How my actions are fake many times so people don't know how much it hurts when they ignore me. How for a while I wanted them to suffer for how sad they made me. But…
But if I go that route, they win. They'd be justified in what they did. And I got someone that believes in me now. By doing that, I'd just throw that trust away.
It is not that I deny what you said. But… I decided to keep going forward, despite that. Or maybe because of that. Become better than anyone. Shove in the faces of those that made me suffer how I am better than them. You know what I'm saying?"

It was silent. Like the kid was trying to swallow what I said. Then he gave me a sad smile.

"This was supposed to be a battle of wills."

"Uh?" was the only thing I could say.

"But you already won."

I didn't understand anything anymore. The next thing I remember, the kid…transformed and entered me.

Then a flash of light, and I was inside a blue room.

It was like a bar, with a singing woman and a piano. And in the middle, there was a table with a free chair in front of a man.

This man, he had a long nose, and seemed to be a bit hunchback. His eyes were big, too. But… I just knew he wasn't a bad person. So I sat in front of him.

He was really polite. He bid me welcome and said it was a pleasure to meet me. He said his name was Igor, and that that place existed between "dream and reality, mind and matter".

I didn't get it, but he said that was fine for now.

He said I now could summon my Persona, a manifestation of my psyche.

Well, he then said people lived by wearing masks, and that people wear those masks when going through hard times. And... that I now had the power to summon my mask. My Persona.

Then he said my power was weak.

I couldn't argue, since I had no idea what power that was. Still don't, even if I can use it now.

Still tried to, though.

So he laughed, and just said my power would grow as I dealt with other people.

Then… he sent me back. Said that I would go back by myself next time we met, but I have no idea how, so…

IIIII

After that, they just sit there quietly, not knowing much how to say.

"So… you got the ultimate Yamanaka hiden: summoning your Persona… through meeting your shadow and accepting it."

"Seems like it." Naruto answered.

"Makes sense so many people failed then. It was your dark side, all that you dislike about yourself and try to hide away, personified. I… don't think many would just accept it."

"Probaly. He seemed really surprised I got along with him so easily, seemed like he was trying to bully me into a fight."

Ino nodded. Made sense, the shadow had said it should have been a battle of wills. Probably a battle for dominance, only the winner getting out… and unless accepted, nothing they could do by themselves could stop the shadow.

"How does it feel?" Ino asked, a bit awkwardly.

"Nice. It is like… you are just meeting a new person that completely understands you. I mean, in a way it is you, so… It's hard to explain…"

"I guess… Uhm, can I see it?"

"Sure."

Naruto then called for the spirit, materializing it in the real world.

In front of Ino's eyes, a blue mist started appearing on Naruto's lap, and soon the shape of a small, two-tailed orange fox appeared.

"Cute…"

The fox jumped down from Naruto's lap to stand in front of the girl, who accepted the invitation and started petting it.

"You know Ino, you're not as bad as I thought…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" the girl replied angrily, making both the fox and the boy too nervous to run away.

"Well… actually, I don't know much how you are… All I know about you is that you're that girl that is always competing with Sakura-chan."

"And all I know about you is that you're that guy that plays pranks instead of studying and has a crush on Sakura." Ino replied serious, before giving him a smile. "So, why don't we know each other better? They say you can never have too many friends."

The fox under her hand disappeared in the poof of a blue mist, while Naruto looked at her with eyes wide.

"Y-you… want to be my friend?"

The way his voice was shaky was almost a slap on the blond girl's face, she had to resist making a wince at his eagerness. Yes, as she told his father, everyone avoided him, so she was probably the first person their age that he would call a friend.

Even Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji, who sometimes escaped class with him, were probably little more than acquaintances as far as he could tell, with Shikamaru and Chouji's just doing things by themselves and Kiba always making fun of him. Someone who only knew friendship from watching others probably wouldn't think they could be considered forms of friendship too.

But maybe they did. She would talk with them after this and try to figure out what they really thought of the boy.

Speaking of which…

"Sure. I don't see why not." She answered with a smile.

"Great!" Naruto answered with a smile. A different smile, somehow, and from what she remembered from his talk with his shadow, a real one.

IIIII

And so, for a while they talked.

"Really? I wouldn't take you for a gardener. Well, not that many would take my father for one either, but we still have the town's greater flower shop."

"Really? Think he could give me tips someday?"

"Hey, I was raised among those flowers! I know most of the things he does!"

…

"Wait, so you like Sakura because she was lonely at first?"

"Yeah, she was once in the same boat as me, but unlike me she got what I wanted. I really appreciate this in her."

"Heh, I remember. Ami was bullying her and I helped Sakura. I miss when we were friends…"

"What happened?"

"Sakura found out I liked Sasuke too, and decided to break our friendship because we were 'rivals in love'…"

"That's… a bit stupid…"

"I know! But she was the one who did it, what choice did I have?"

…

"You see, you need to balance your calories intake to the amount of work you do. Too much and you get fat, not enough and you get skinny."

"Wouldn't it be better to just have more exercises then? I mean, this way you keep yourself thin but also get stronger."

"But if you exercise too much without building up to it you start aching, and that means you will have trouble doing more exercise later."

"Uhm… this is harder than I thought…"

"Speaking of it, what is your training regime? I mean, are you increasing it properly?"

"...Increasing it?"

All the while, Inoichi was watching. Naruto seemed to be sane and healthy, and seemed like he would benefit from a friendship with Ino.

He'd still crush him like a grape, Persona and Kyuubi or not, if he ever hurt his daughter though.