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PLEASE READ THIS NOTE ALL THE WAY THROUGH, WOULD YOU KINDLY? It explains things. Yes, this part of the Not Going Home series.

Sorry for this. Before anyone asks, yes, I'm still updating everything. "Remnants" and "Road" will be ready soon. This I'm sure some of you are wondering why I wrote this. This tale was written for...well. A personal reason. A deeply personal reason, and I'd not have put this up otherwise.

Allow me to explain:

It all started when a man named Mark gave me a copy of Persona 5 Royal. At first, all was well. I thought, daaaaaaaamn youuuuuuu~! How am I to ignore a free game, I ask you?! How?! Impossible!

I was happy! I was content! I thought it looked like good game, but I resisted the urge to buy it and didn't feel a need to write a story! Then my friend went and tossed this bloody thing at me! Just, walked right into my room said here, "CATCH!" and launched it at me. I thought I'd play it and blow off some steam. Aaaaand then it happened.

A-ways in, I ran up against a certain scene that set off some bad memories and PTSD. Really bad. We're talking nightmare levels of nastiness.

As some of you know, my...uncle committed suicide a few years back. That really messed me up. For those of you who have played the game, there's a certain scene where...well...someone throws themselves off a roof with the intention of killing themselves. Nope nope nope! I saw enough of it, blasted through the rest of that cutscene...and started writing. I literally couldn't control myself, and its rare that a game produces such a violent reaction in me. So I'm sorry. I guess it was simply my way of coping.

*bows head* Once again, I'm sorry for this.

Warning for certain themes. And sweet, sweeeeet revenge. Also...because I pity poor, poor Shiho.

"Are you just going to let him get away with it his crimes?

Are you going to forgive him, then? Simply let yourself be discarded and thrown away?

No? That's right. Scum like him deserve no mercy. NOW! Rise from the ashes of your old self and be reborn!"

~?!

Rebirth

So.

Persona.

That's a thing.

You know, I never thought myself one for the social reform before I played the game. Never felt the need to go around "stealing" people's hearts, you know? I was content to use brute force and a silver tongue to get what I wanted; wandering the universes, helping the odd misfit or two, even adopting a few kids here and there. Never really stuck around to see my handiwork in the long run. Never bothered to. When you have near limitless resources and the power of Determination on your side, you really don't stop to question yourself.

But this universe, this world of cognition and Persona and Palaces...

...

...

...hmm.

How do I put this bluntly?

I suppose you could say a certain someone left a bad taste in my mouth. Well. Several someones.

Rotten. Rotten rotten rotten ROTTEN! Kamoshida! Madarame! Kaneshiro! SHIDO! Why, I could go on for hours! With the exception of a select few, this world is a right and proper piece of shite in need of a good purge. I'm almost tempted to destroy it on principle, if nothing else...but that would ruin so many things. Forgiveness? Confessing their crimes? No, no, no, these monsters need to suffer before they come clean; they need to know what their victims suffered, experience the complete and utter soul crushing DESPAIR that they inflicted upon so many others.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Why mess with the Phantom Thieves at all? Mess with them? Why, perish the thought, dear reader! You wound me! I just want them to realize their true potential. They could be glorious tricksters. Pranksters supreme. Even a certain save-scumming protagonist. So much untapped potential! It seems such a shame to waste that.

So lets. Give them. A push.

And would you know it: I've found just the place to start; with a girl on a rooftop. A simple side character in the opening act, doomed to obscurity. No Social Link, no strength to speak of, no Persona to unleash. Little more than a piece of code in the real world. Someone to be forgotten. Tossed aside. Discarded. Thrown away. Nope. Nu-uh. I ain't having that shit. Does she not deserve more?

You know what they say:

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Isn't it? After all, its Not My Heart at stake here.

(.0.0.0.)

Darkness shrouded Shiho's world.

It clung to her senses like a wet blanket, thick and cloying, choking out all light and hope in her final moments. She couldn't see. Couldn't think. Couldn't even breathe. She could only lay there, paralyzed in the black, and pray for the sweet release of oblivion. Wasn't there supposed to be light at the end of the tunnel? She hoped so. Anything was better than waiting in this wretched shadow for the end to come. Yet the longer she waited for nothingness to envelop her, the more uncertain she became.

'Why am I still here?'

It was a sad, lonely thought, one a girl of her age should never have conjured up. She should've been focused on sports, or boys, late nights studying...not this. Anything but this. She just wanted to get away from it all; from the abuse, the pain, the torment, she'd just wanted it to stop...!

"Well, this is a right pickle you've gotten yourself into, miss Suzui."

By some bitter irony Shiho found that still retained some semblance of her senses. She could still hear enough to hallucinate it seemed, and still feel pain.

Oh god, was there pain.

With each passing moment she was keenly aware of the dull aching pain lancing through her legs, serving as a grisly reminder of what she'd done. She'd thrown herself off the roof but lost her nerve at the last moment and tried to break her fall with her legs like the coward she was. No doubt they'd paid horribly for it. That settled it, then. If she could still feel pain, she was still alive...for however much longer. Her landing had been a grisly one after all. She'd not survive the standing, assuming she even could. Even if she lived, she'd never walk again. All because of him.

Damn.

Damn it.

Damn him.

It seemed there truly was no escaping Kamoshida, even in death. Even now he haunted her final thoughts, that rat bastard. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Her fingers twitched, longing to wrap around his throat and snap. No. A quick death was too good for him. It should be slow. He should suffer as she had suffered. She wanted to choke him. Squeeze the life from his lungs and watch those pig eyes bulge as he rattled out his last gasp. Wait. Where had that thought come from?

"Are you truly satisfied with this?" There it was. The voice again. "Ignoring me won't do you any good."

A small, bitter laugh tumbled past her lips; she couldn't even die properly, it seemed. Now she was just imagining things.

"Really?" All at once the voice they came on again, carrying with it note of anger. "We're doing this now? You're just going to play dumb?"

This was no dream, nor could it be called a nightmare. Trapped somewhere between life and death, she waited for the end. And as she waited, she began to seethe at the voice.

Why wouldn't it go away?

"That's right. You should be angry. Get mad. Be furious. Poor, poor Shiho." this time there could be no mistaking the scorn the voice conveyed. "Neglected. Forgotten. Alone. You were meant to be so much more than this. Unable to face your pain, you tried to take your own life to end the pain. That didn't work out so well, did it? Now you're even worse off than before. Aren't you going to do something about it?"

"Stop." she grit her teeth.

"Stop? My dear, we're just getting started. What good does running away accomplish?" the words continued to swirl around her in the dark, caressing her cheek like the faintest feather's brush. "Nothing. You didn't even stop to think of those you'd left behind. You had a friend, didn't you? Not anymore."

"That's not...

"Not what?" it was a man's voice she realized, having lost its faint echo. "Not the truth? By all means, prove me wrong. Speak out. Condemn me."

Condemn him? The only one who deserved to be be condemned here was her. Shiho knew that, even as she cursed herself for it. She knew she shouldn't have done this, knew she shouldn't have given into her fears, just as she knew she shouldn't have listened to that voice on the rooftop and jumped.

"WILL YOU JUST LET ME DIE IN PEACE?!"

"Finally." A sharp bark of laughter greeted her. "A response!"

Someone snapped their fingers and a ray of light tore away the gloom.

A young man clad in orange and black emerged from the shadows, footsteps echoing harshly in the void. Bright blue eyes beamed down at her, framed by whiskered cheeks and a tawny mane of golden hair only narrowly bound by a black headband. That same piercing gaze bored through her very soul, brighter than any flame, and she wilted beneath its heat.

"Nothing quite like the classics, wouldn't you agree?" He rolled his shoulder in a loose shrug as she blinked up at him, the harsh timbre gone from his voice. "I haven't used this body in ages."

"Who are you," she rasped out, voice little more than a whisper. "Why are you here...?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, at your service." he sketched a shallow bow before her. "Wandering god, thief, tricksters, and murderer at your service. As to the why, I came to see you, of course."

Pointless. Whatever this hallucination told her, Shiho knew she was already dead. Or would be, very soon.

"Is it pointless?" as though reading her very thoughts, his voice lashed out at her again "I don't think it is." he shook his head in quiet sorrow. "You meant the world to Ann." Shiho flinched aside but his words chased her down like a bloodhound and dragged her naked regret into the light. "Now you're dead and gone. Did the deed. Punched your ticket. You ran away and left her behind to suffer in your stead. She'll be so heartbroken. Is that what you wanted? Will you allow her to be defiled by Kamoshida, as you were? Was that your intent?"

"No!" She curled away from his words. "Ann's strong. She'll...she will...

This time, her guest didn't condemn her. He simply stared at her. Shiho shrank beneath his gaze.

What would Ann do? What could she do? Kamoshida was a teacher. She was just a student. No one would listen to her. No one would care. They'd ignore her cries for help, just as she had. Kamoshida ruled the school as though it were his own personal castle. No one would challenge him. No one dared. Not the principal, not the other teachers...no one. Who would believe Ann?

How long until she took her own life, as Shiho had?

No. No no no. Not that. Anything but that. She'd made a mistake. She had to go back. She wanted to go back. She needed to something. Anything! Bitter tears strung at her eyes and a small, wordless groan fled from her mouth. She tried to curl in on herself again, to no avail. Her body refused to obey her commands.

"I could bring you back to life, of course." the blond made a show of inspecting his fingernails. "For a price."

Shiho wilted anew. "What price?"

"Ordinarily? I'd ask for your soul." reading her dismay, he flashed her another smile. "Come now, don't be like that! Since this is your first time crossing over to the other side, I'll give you a discount. I'll I ask in return for my help is that you...smile."

Her brain rebooted.

"Eh?" she blinked blearily back at him.

"Smile." he held out her hand to her in the light as she lay helpless at his feet. "Smile, laugh, and spit in the the face of this rotten world that brought you this low. Show that bastard what for. Promise me you'll do that, and I'll bring you back to life." his palm dipped lower still, all but gliding over her right hand where it still lay in the dark. "I'll fix your legs, awaken your potential, even give you the means to have your revenge. Free of charge. Free of consequence."

He was lying. Nothing was free. Not her spot on the volleyball team, and certainly not this.

"I'm not trying to trick you, honest." Naruto's voice roiled through her ears like smoke through honey. "If anything, you're benefiting from this deal more than I am. You could go your own way after this, and I wouldn't be able to stop you. Ordinarily, I wouldn't even advocate for this sorta thing in the first place, you know?" a clawed finger scratched at one of his whiskered cheeks. "But this bastard? Nope." he shook his head firmly in denial when she tried to open her mouth. "He deserves what's coming to him and then some. You should be the one to do him in."

"I can't...I'm not strong...

"Of course you are." a tan hand descended to pat her head, bringing with it a sudden rush of vitality. "You just don't realize it yet. You want to make him suffer, don't you?" he crouched down to her level, even as his reply struck a chord deep within her. "Make him wriggle and writhe for all that he's done. Its not enough for him to confess his crimes to the public. He has to be broken before that. Its like you said...

...he needs to suffer," Shiho muttered, recalling her earlier thoughts as she struggled to raise her gaze. "Why? Do you have a grudge against him?"

"I hate a great many things." came the retort, "That man's near the top of the list. So, yes, if you're asking, I'll enjoy watching him beg. What's wrong with ruining scum like him? Death is a mercy men like him don't deserve and won't receive. Why? he tilted his head. "Do you take issue with that?"

Nothing, a soft voice cooed inside Shiho's head. Nothing at all.

Still, a thorn of hesitation pricked her heat and held her back. "Who are you, really? Tell me that much, at least."

"Me?" His grin reminded her of a shark that smelled blood in the water. "I'm a true Trickster. Think of me as a prankster of sorts; I've been playing jokes and pulling the wool over people's eyes for years; and all that was before I became a god. Since then? I've pulled off heists that would turn the soon-to-be Phantom Thieves green with envy. Now, shake my hand."

Shiho hesitated, feeling like she was making a deal with the devil.

"Come on now, sweetheart." her savior crooned, "Won't you shake a poor sinner's hand?"

What did she have to lose? Her life? That was already forfeit. This was for Ann. She couldn't let that happen to her. No. Never her. What choice did she have? She'd made a mistake. She couldn't die here. Ann would never forgive her-no. She'd never forgive herself. If that meant making a deal with a stranger, a demon, or even a self-proclaimed god, then...!

She latched onto Naruto's hand like a lifeline.

His blue eyes lit with a strange inner fire. "Yeeesss."

And quite suddenly, Shiho found herself standing on her feet.

There was no transition between the two; one moment she'd lain paralyzed at Naruto's feet; in the next, she was standing on her own once more, as if someone had simply cut out the moment between the two. Blazing azure orbs winked back at her and the pain in her legs vanished, replaced by a strange sensation in the back of her head. She tried to ignore it at first, was even successful in part. But still it persisted. Like a strange itch she couldn't quite scratch it continued to build and build and build until it became a piercing pain she could no longer ignore. And still, Naruto had yet to let go of her hand.

"Our contract is sealed, then." he hummed as she began to squirm. "I look forward to working with you. Oh, and be nice to your Persona. She's a fan of lucha libre, you see."

"What," Shiho gritted the words out in a gasp, "What did you do to me...?!"

"Didn't I just tell you?" Naruto's grin seemed almost chagrined by comparison; all the while, the world began to flicker and blur around them. "I gave you a Persona. Your mind was never meant to house one, so I had to create one for you. One that's about to awaken." His grasp tightened around her fingers and the pain in her head redoubled. "This is going to hurt, by the way." his mouth turned down in a grimace when she tried to take an angry swipe at him. "For what its worth, I'm sorry for that."

"I'M NOT! LET ME OUT!"

Pain stabbed through Shiho's forehead and she flopped back to the floor again as Naruto released her.

"You've kept me waiting for quite some time, child." That voice didn't belong to Naruto. It was a woman's voice, proud and strong

For a fleeting moment she glimpsed herself in his gaze when she looked up, saw her eyes burning seven shades of gold. He shrugged as the pain redoubled.

"You were never meant to come this far." this new voice -her voice?- intoned over Shiho's pained whimpers as she struggled with her very soul. "Yours was a but a bit part in this story, meant to be seen then discarded like a burnt-out star. But that's not who are anymore, is it?"

"No...

"Yes, that's right." her new ally continued to speak over her pained cries as she thrashed about on the floor. "Your heart is strong now; your resolve, stronger still. You who have died once, rise now from the ashes of your old self like a phoenix and be reborn." this -other?- her sounded almost amused by her newfound determination. "Together we will crush all those before us. What say you?"

Shiho sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth.

What did she say? The answer was obvious. She didn't want to be weak anymore; just as didn't want to leave Ann to Kamoshida's perversions. But more than that, more than her desire to protect, overpowering all else in a great rising cloud of smoke and ash...came the rage. It bubbled up in her like a fierce geyser, scouring all before it. She didn't understand this power, didn't know what purpose it would serve; but she knew what it was meant for, what it would grant her.

"Come to me." she croaked through a throat hoarse from her own screams. "Give me vengeance."

"That's the spirit~! I am thou~!" in her minds eye, she beheld a blond woman clad in orange and blue cloth. Burning green eyes beamed back at her like a proud parent. Her body seemed to ripple and shift from one moment to next. Was she a woman? Or was she a great winged serpent? She couldn't be sure, only that the same euphoric voice prevailed through both forms. "Thou art I~!"

Shiho's hands flew to her head.

"Let your soul cry out with the fury of a thousand worlds!"

Something tight settled over Shiho's gaze and she panicked, hands flailing at what felt like leather and feathers. A mask? What? When? Why? Where had it come from?

"Huh." Naruto blinked above her. "A luchador, eh? Not what I expected."

Instinctual fury compelled Shiho to seize the mantle hiding her visage from the world. She yelped as it seared her fingers, painfully hot to the touch, but the heat was nothing compared to what it might be if she left it in place. Agony lanced through her very being as she fought against it, grappling mightily with the forces struggling to hold her facade to her face. Blood bubbled and burst beneath her burning fingertips as she dug her nails in-yet she persisted still, even as hot tears coursed down her cheeks. Still she pulled, drawing deep bloody furrows as she forced herself to her feet.

With a final cry she wrenched it free, as what she now realized to be her Persona stirred deep within her soul.

White light shattered behind her eyes as she screamed its name.

And somewhere, somewhen, somehow...

...the world changed forever.

"Quetzalcoatl!"

A/N: Yes, its THAT Quetzalcoatl. Her voice is a dead giveaway.

If folks don't like this, it'll be gone soon. That's the rule I'm holding to now. Its worked out pretty well so far, helping me to weed out new stories and the like. And there we are.

Perhaps I have a thing for taking pity on side characters like Shiho and Mishima. And Hifumi. Among others. Naruto's going around stirring the pot and changing things. Why, I dare say he's recruiting a gang of his own, separate to the Phantom Thieves. Now, whyever would he want to do that?

Chaos, of course. Ha! Take that computer! I don't need both hands to write!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sneak back to bed before the 'ol girlfriend makes good on her promise to hang me for staying up late again. Its not like my inspiration kept me up 'till the crack of dawn writing this...or that I forgot to eat...or go outside today...or pay the bills...

...

...

...

SHE'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE~!

So in the Immortal words of Atlas...

...Review, Would You Kindly?

Enjoy the previews!

(Preview)

"Well Hellooooo Sae Nijima! Can I buy you a drink?"

...excuse me?"

Shiho sighed. She'd made a deal with the devil alright...but she hadn't realized he was such a dork.

"Oh, that's right!" Naruto hummed. "You'll be needing a code name for the little operation I'm putting together. How does Phoenix sound? It fits, given your outfit."

Shiho twitched. "Hate you. Hate you SO much right now...

It was a quaint thing, posing as a student.

Naruto whistled merrily to himself and sauntered through the gate.

"I live for one thing. Entertainment." slim shoulders shrugged. "Really, when you're immortal its all you have. Fresh experiences, new lands, exciting opportunities. And if I get to inflict a little payback along the way, well. That's a bonus. Now whaddya say, son?" he leaned across the table. "Shake my hand."

Mishima gulped. "Why me?"

"Why not?" the young man's smile gleamed in the waning light of the setting sun light. "You wanted a purpose, no? I'm offering you one. Take back your life. Realize your destiny. Awaken your true self."

"Gah! Lemme go!"

"Hello, Phantom Thieves. I believe this cat belongs to you."

"Who in the hell're you?!"

"Quiet, blondie." Bemused blue eyes dismissed the hooligan with a glance. "I was talking to the Protagonist."

...me?"

"Quite." A foot swung upward and placed itself on the table between them, causing the unlikely quartet to jump. "Its so nice to finally meet you. What should I call you? You've got so many names after all. Should it be Ren, Akira, Inmate, Trickster...or should I simply call you Joker? "As to what I'm after? A competition. Whose justice is better? Yours or ours?"

Ann frowned. "Ours? There's only one of you. I don't see anyone else up here with you."

His grin reminded them of a shark. "No, I suppose you don't. I'm not about to show my hand there."

R&R~!