A/N: Jeez, I'm still depressed about what's happened in Las Vegas. Wow. I don't even have words. I'll be keeping them in my prayers. What kind of man guns down people at a concert only to take his own life before he can be caught? A coward, that's what! Aaaaaarrrrrgh, I'm so pissed right now! Violence has never been, and never will be the way to do things! If someone has a problem with another, then they should TALK about it, not go batshit crazy and start shooting! It seems like every day I wake up and hear of some terrible incident somewhere in the world and it breaks my heart. Truly, it does. Its almost enough to make a man loose hope in this day and age. Can't we all just get along? Apparently not!

That's precisely what's wrong with the world these days!

Alright, alright, I'm getting off on a tangent here.

Also, a LIST!

Previously, there was some confusion as to the timeline. Naruto is twelve at the start of this story. Furthermore, this takes place some weeks before his Genin exam, meaning: (A) He never stole the Scroll of Sealing, (B) Never graduated, and of course, (C) Basically had the rug yanked out from under him right before breakfast and fell into the Digital World. (D) The entire ordeal left him...altered in unexpected ways.

With me so far? Great!

This chapter should give a hint as to what seasons we'll be working with here.

Which season are we working with, hmm?

The answer, my dear readers?

SEVERAL!

How do I intend to do that, you ask?

Hehehehe, why, I'm so very glad that you inquired!

You'll soon see what I mean as the story gradually progresses.

Furthermore, I feel the need for an additional warning here. If it wasn't already replied, Naruto's lost his memories. He doesn't know what-who-he is and he's forced to adapt to the situations as they arise. You're either going to hate this story, or love it. Why? Well, lets just say that the ninja world isn't quite done with Naruto yet. I won't say anymore at this time, but expect it to raise all sorts of hell later on. Also, apparently, Bellestarmon is a thing. Interesting.

Oh, and as to the matter or partners/spirits...

...someone gave me a rather novel idea.

I'm going all in with this, right here!

Expect the unexpected, readers!

Now off we go~!

"Yes, that's right. Take that power. Keep loading data until no one can stop you. Surpass the system. Surpass the god of this wretched world! Cast him down! And then...!"

~?

Going Digital

"Corruption Level at Twenty Percent."

"Wake up, you bloody fool!"

"What in the world...?"

A voice like poisoned honey ripped through the pleasant haze of Naruto's dreams to pluck the unwilling boy from his dirt-nap with cruel surety. Dragged from blissful images of ramen, his body briefly resisted; fighting tooth and claw to remain where it was, determined to cling to the sweet succor of slumber a while longer. Perhaps annoyed by this stubborn recalcitrance of his, someone-or something?-swatted him on the back of his head. Hard. Yelping in equal parts surprise and pain, the boy reluctantly roused himself and came back to the world.

Unfortunately for him, said world didn't prove particularly accommodating.

Darkness awaited him when he finally opened his eyes; a complete and utter absence of light so profound that the boy physically shrank backwards.

Dimly, he became aware of hardened metal rods beneath his hands and to his back. When he attempted to make of go of finding his footing his already sore skull struck a low ceiling with a harsh clang and drove him back to the floor. With that his beleaguered brain finally rebooted and he began to understand what had transpired. Was this a cage of some sort, then? A cursory glance confirmed his suspicions. Someone must've stuffed him in here. This was swiftly coupled by the realization that he wasn't alone in said cage. He could hear someone-something?!-breathing nearby, the soft, telltale rasp of another being deep in slumber.

Something big.

Certainly larger than him by the sound of it!

'Right. Gotta be quiet, then. But how did I get here?'

Another void of a far more sinister sort awaited him when he tried to gather his broken thoughts. Now that he thought about it, his skull ached most of all. His temples were pounding something terrible; suggesting he'd landed on his head at some point. This time, there could be no retreat from what he found lurking there.

Or rather, a distinct lack thereof.

That...that couldn't be right.

He remembered...

...nothing.

"What?"

To his dismay, the boy found he couldn't recall how he'd gotten here. Or...much of anything for that matter. Even his own name escaped his notice; as if someone had reached deep inside his very soul and scooped out all the memories, all the thoughts that made him...him. Who was he? Where was he? Who am I?! The endless slew of questions nearly sent him into a paroxysm of weeping terror. It was only with a supreme effort of will that he throttled his fear and dragged himself back from the edge. Perhaps had he been in his right mind, he might've wondered just how easily he overcame the horrors of amnesia.

As it were, his shattered psyche didn't give it a second thought.

"What the hell?! Let me out of here!"

His body bolted upright again and immediately smashed into the ceiling a second time.

Remarkably, this brief bout of senseless stupidity actually knocked some sense into the bedraggled blond.

'Stop! Just stop!' he swore at himself, tucking both knees into his chest to stifle another spasm. 'Don't freak out...whoever I am! Think!'

"Keep it down, ya big lug!" a pitched voice growled. "You're too damn loud!"

"You're the one being too...too...

Rounding on the sound, the boy felt the retort dry up on his tongue.

An imp was the only word he could think of to describe the creature glaring back at him, its small body barely visible in the dark. Even its red bandanna and gloves did little to distract from those startling green eyes, dark orbs that lent no hint to their owners identity. But that voice certainly sounded like a girl. Didn't it?

Oh. Those eyes wanted to burn him to ash now, by the looks of it.

...ha?"

"Don't you "ha" me, bub!" the little creature-she?-growled at him. "Stop staring!"

Naruto managed a slow blink. "Just what the hell are you?"

"The name's Impmon! What's it to ya, huh?!"

Unbidden, a laugh escaped the blond.

"Impmon? What kind of name is-

"That does it! Bada Boom!"

"Hey!"

It was something of a miracle that he possessed enough common sense to dodge the burst of flame that followed; let alone retained the skill to retaliate. Even if he hadn't evaded it, the lukewarm flame barely possessed enough warm to singe his shoulder in passing. Still, it hurt. Roused by the sudden violence something ugly stirred in him and before he knew it he retaliated, driving his skull against the imp's forehead with bone crushing force. The tiny female yelped and recoiled, clutching at the rising welt between he'd left her.

"Ow! What kind of monster are you?!"

Naruto didn't stop there.

His hand shot out, snagging the mischievous creature by the bandanna around its neck. A single tug was all it took to rip her from her feet, hoist her into the air, and bring her to his face. His reflection snarled back at him from those terrified jade orbs, savage scarlet slits howling at him from the black. Odd. Had his eyes always been red? He couldn't remember. Didn't care. In that instant all he felt was anger. A rage that hadn't been there, not before this, threatening to rise up and choke him should he allow it to take hold.

"Try that again." he growled. Spirits, was that his voice?

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she flailed, throwing up her gloved hands in surrender. "Jeez! Won't do it again, okay?! Lemme go!"

Reluctantly he acquiesced her request.

What was he indeed? He had the vaguest feeling he shouldn't be here. Wherever here was. Almost as if he belonged somewhere else. But that was impossible. Wasn't it? How could he be sure this place wasn't home? He might've lived here all his life for all he knew. It was only the prolonged sense of unease that suggested otherwise. Even now, he could see precious little in the darkness beyond him and the little imp-no wait, that wasn't quite right. Now that he concentrated, he found his vision adjusting, almost as if-

"If you two are quite done bickering?" a new voice interjected, "I'd rather get out of here before someone slaps dark rings on the rest of us."

'Dark Rings?'

Impmon growled.

"Shut up, you big furball! You'll wake the guards!"

Momentarily shaken from his silent contemplation, Naruto turned his gaze to what-he assumed-was the southernmost corner of the cage. Sure enough, he could just make out the humanoid silhouette of a figure. Standing as much as the confines of the cage would allow, said someone turned their head towards him.

Or was it something?

"Who...are you?"

For a fleeting instant, bleary blue eyes beheld a vision of a vulpine face peering down at him, eyes bright in the dark. Impossible, of course. Foxes couldn't be gold, and they certainly didn't stand on two legs. Yet here one was, gazing upon him with idle curiosity. At least the boy hoped it was simply curiosity. The idea that he'd finally woken only to be devoured by wild beasts...well, it wasn't a pleasant one. Whomever they were, they didn't flinch from his gaze. Indeed, they met him stare for stare, daring him to speak up. He was only just considering it when the newcomer surprised him.

"...Renamon." she relented her name with a sigh. Then those narrow eyes narrowed even further. "You're not with Emperor, are you?"

"Er...no?" he managed weakly.

"Doubt it." Impmon muttered to herself.

"What was that, shorty?"

"Nothing!"

Whoever this "Emperor" was, Naruto had begun to have an exceedingly low opinion of him. Wasn't an emperor meant to rule with fairness? Kindness? Throwing your subjects in cages didn't strike him as particularly kind. No one belonged in a cage. He wasn't sure why he felt that way; a holdover from his past self perhaps? Who knew? Still, rulers were supposed to help their people. Not abandon them. When he became Hokage, he would never do such a thing. Wait. Where had that thought come from? He felt as if he were on the verge of remembering something important, so close, just out of reach...

"Your hands." Renamon informed him primly, startling the boy somewhat.

"What?" Naruto blinked, baffled by the sudden turnabout. "What about my hands-

Pale palms flailed wildly at enemies that weren't there, clawed digits slicing through the air.

Wait.

Claws?

Wincing at his throbbing palms, Naruto finally risked a glance at his hands for the first time since waking. His heart nearly stopped at the sight awaiting him there in the faint light. Fur? No, not quite fur. He could clearly see his skin in the gloom, but those hands...they didn't look human. Sheathed in crimson fur to the wrist, his palms looked like something out of a nightmare; more ghastly claws than the palms of a twelve-year old boy. Impossible, his mind gibbered madly, flailing at the sight before him. That isn't...I'm human! Aren't I?!

He was.

He had to be.

Daring a brief once-over of body, the boy's feeble hopes were crushed even further; for his jumpsuit lay in tatters around his shoulders, barely clinging to his battered body. Funny. Had he always been this...tall? His body felt stiff in places, as though he'd shot through an abrupt growth spurt overnight. Absurd. He could still see human skin in places where the ruined fabric had torn, feel his distinctly human face-gingerly lest he accidentally cut himself-with his hands. A twitch in his lower back heralded yet another unwelcome surprise. Somehow he wasn't surprised by the lone crimson tail lurking there, unnoticed until this very moment. If anything he felt resigned. Then what was this?!

Reeling from the realization, Naruto stumbled back, thinking only to curl into a ball and pray this dream-the alternative was unacceptable-eventually passed and let him be.

Fate had other plans.

"Hey, watch it!"

He'd scarce backpedaled than something small and agile darted underfoot, nearly tripping him up. Of course there was someone else here. There just had to be. Did this day of misery know no end?!

"And who the hell are you?" he demanded, incredulous.

"What kind of question is that?" a mewling voice interjected. "I'm me, of course! Who're you?!"

The boy dared to lower his gaze.

He found himself looking at a strange, pale, dog-like creature with bright eyes, lop ears and an equally odd ring circling its thin neck. It would've been downright cute if it wasn't growling at him-no, somehow it managed to make even that menacing gesture look adorable. In fact, he wouldn't even call it a dog, more of a puppy actually. With that, reality reasserted itself at last. Imps and talking foxes aside, his mind recoiled even further at the sight of something seemingly so ordinary talking.

He was looking at a puppy.

And it was speaking.

To him?!

"I could ask you the same question!"

"Huh?!" the little creature growled, "Ya wanna fight?!"

"Well, I'm Salamon. What's it to you, punk?! What's your name?!"

It took the fight right out of Naruto.

The reminder that he couldn't even recall his own name stole the very wind from his sails, causing him to slump against the wall. His tail protested painfully as he sat upon it and he awkwardly rearranged his legs until the irritating sensation ceased. All the while he was aware of the three creatures staring at him. Assessing him. Judging him. Burning with shame, he raised his shoulders in a helpless shrug.

...I don't actually know." the boy confessed with a note of confusion, scratching his head. He was certain he'd had one. He must've. Right?

"Seriously?" Impmon guffawed.

Naruto snatched up a stone and pegged her.

"Ow! Jeez, what's with you and the wicked aim, huh?!"

"Oh!" At the blond's admission, Salamon's anger seemed to drain away all at once, replaced by something akin to startled sympathy. "You don't know who you are?! That's awful!" she sidled over to him, patting his knee with a paw. "I've never met a Digimon who couldn't remember their name." Then, after a moments consideration, she seemed to regret those words. "Sorry about what I said. That was...wrong of me."

"Digimon?"

"That's what you are, aren't you?"

"Hmm. He looks human to me," Renamon offered. "Well...mostly."

"Right. Thanks." Naruto groaned, the sound muffled as slammed his head into his palms. "Because that makes me feel soooooo much better."

"Think you can break the bars with those claws?" Salamon prodded.

"Can't you?"

"Diamond Storm!"

Naruto narrowly ducked as Renamon flung out an arm and snarled. At the kitsune's cry, the world burst into countless brilliant shards, dozens of which flung themselves at the bars in a blinding blizzard of white. The cage rattled at the attack's impact, emitting an awful clang that threatened to deafen its occupants, but it held fast. Nothing more.

"See?" she raised her shoulders in a helpless shrug. "Nothing. Why don't you try?"

"Yeah, break a leg." Impmon snarked.

"Quiet, or I'll break yours."

Inwardly, he wondered.

Could he do it?

With all certainty, had he possessed even a hint of his memories, emotions would've won the day right then and there. Events would have transpired very differently indeed. Panic would surely demand he throw a fit, as most his age were wont to do. He would have shouted and screamed and railed against all of this. Now? He felt...oddly calm, actually. Too much had occurred in too short a time for him to be surprised by something like talking creatures. Or much of anything, really. Whatever-whoever?-he was, he certainly couldn't be called human. Not now. Quite possibly never again. An ordinary human wouldn't have hands like this. They operated on emotion. Sanity. And they certainly didn't have tails!

Hence the disconnect.

The mind does many a strange thing to protect the body from what it views as pain. While not yet painful, this reality remained far from pleasant. It never occurred to him to ask about the so-called "guards" supposedly in wait nearby, nor the "Digimon Emperor", the "Digital World" or even "Digimon" as a whole. He simply didn't want to know. Ironically, it was in that instant, that moment of sheer stubbornness that changed everything.

'Oh, I see. That's how it is, then?'

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a switch flipped.

"Yes!" a dark voice in the back of his head exulted. "At last!"

With that, young Naruto's mind firmly divided itself into two camps; one of delusion, the other of painful truth. Half of him remained convinced that this was all a dream, one he'd wake up from any moment now. The rest, infinitely smaller, and far weaker wondered if it truly was reality. Fiction? Or truth? Neither possibility proved pleasant. Regardless, Renamon made a fair point just now. The cage had to go. It stood in his way. If he truly was dreaming, he ought to be able to do whatever he wanted, no? T'was his dream, after all. In a dream, he was invincible.

Therefore, it stood to reason that he could shatter it with ease.

He never had a chance to test that theory; because in that instant, everything fell apart.

His first realization that something was amiss came when the very cage itself swung open. Not a heartbeat later, a pair of wicked-looking creatures entered the cell, carrying the heat of a thousand summers with them. Seemingly carved from the very flame itself, save for a strange dark ring encircling their necks, they resembled a men only in the vaguest of terms. For though humanoid their eyes burned with a ghastly inhuman flame. Naruto found himself so focused on the creatures that he failed to notice the third until it was too late.

Not so for Renamon.

"All of you! Run-

A burning fist slammed home against the kitsune's gut before she could launch her failed offensive, driving the very breath from her lungs. She crumpled to the floor in a heap, choking. Her attacker barely blinked before another burning man snatched her up, throwing her over a shoulder. The entire exchanged took place in less than a second. Naruto swallowed thickly, and not from the oppressive heat. Fear swaddled him in an icy blanket that smothered all sense, but somehow, he managed to find the words to speak out.

"Hey, hotheead!" he cried! "Just what do you think you're doing?!"

"..."

The creature didn't even acknowledge him as a threat; it merely leveled a burning glare in his direction and all the strength fled from his bones. Fear? No, Naruto didn't feel fear. What he experienced now was pure terror, ancient and primordial, choking the very life from his lungs.

'Don't just stand there!' His mind raged at his leaden legs, 'Do something, damnit! This isn't right! Move! C'mon! Move! MOVE!'

"You," its voice emerged like grease roiling over an open fire, rooting him where he stood. "Stay."

"You two." the second of them leveled a burning finger at Impmon and Salamon, "Out."

The third advanced on them without remorse.

"Hey! Get your hands offa me!"

"No! Please, don't!"

"Stop!"

Once again Naruto attempted to stand, and when the low ceiling denied him yet again, he dropped to all fours, crouching low to the ground, hands splayed against the seemingly unbreakable metal. His intent had been to give it a good hard swipe with his new weaponry. Almost immediately, a change stole over him. He felt different. Strange. Boundless energy writhed just beneath the surface, untapped might reacted, ready to be released at the slightest provocation. Then came the pain. It shot through him all at once in a crippling wave that turned his vision red and forced him to the floor, his body collapsing into spasms. Somewhere over his screams, he thought he heard laughter. Impossible.

Wasn't it?

"I...said...stop!" he ground out through clenched teeth. "Don't touch them!"

Renamon stiffened.

"Its coming."

Salamon and Impon only looked on in confusion.

"What is?"

Naruto heard nothing of their conversation. There was only pain. Oh, he could still see Renamon and the others through the crimson veil draped over his vision, but their words were lost to him. Soon even sight abandoned him in the haze. Curling in on himself did nothing to lessen the agony, it only made him burn all the more. He felt his body slowly, painstakingly break apart from within despite his best attempts to hold it together. DNA twisting, warped by unseen forces. This was the worst agony he'd ever experienced in his life; as if a rhino were charging through his heart.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Somewhere between it all, he fell apart.

And the world erupted into fire.

A/N: CLIFFHANGER NO JUTSU!

Think of that little corruption message what you will. It actually has significant ramifications. After all, you didn't think Naruto would simply "arrive" in the Digital World without consequences. Its often said that hatred is a virus, and viruses are dangerous. Deadly.

Especially to Digimon.

*Burns from embarrassment* Kami alive this was HARD to write! My ears are burning bright right now and I'm pretty damn sure I've got one helluva headache! I've never written anything like this before! Expect the unexpected with this story, and feel free to suggest whatever you like! Naruto's going to have one hell of a wild ride, and that's assuming he ever makes it back to Konoha! Will he have a partner? A spirit? Both? Or will this take an entirely different route altogether...?

That, my dear readers, is for you decide! I humbly welcome any and all opinions and suggestions!

A word of warning to the wise, this story may venture into the realm of high T or M later on!

If anyone caught the TFS reference at the very end, good for you! =D

So, in the immortal words of Altas...

...review, would you kindly?

And enjoy the preview! Here's a major hint!

Needless to say, it gets a little crazy!

(Preview)

"I made a promise!"

"Words mean nothing if you don't have the power to back them up, idiot."

"Nggh...shut up! You're not an Emperor! You're a murderer! I swear...I'm going to...going to...DESTROY YOU!"

"What?! Hey! What sorcery is this?! You! What are you doing?! How are you evolving?! Stop! Stop that right now! I said stop! You can't possibly...?!"

Someone was laughing.

It took him a handful of seconds to realize it was him.

Dark flames coiled around his arms, shrouding him in strength.

Fell horns burst from his forehead as his body twisted and grew upward.

Somewhere in the back of his rage-addled mind, he thought he heard a voice.

Warning! Warning! Corruption Level Presently Exceeds Fifty Percent. Data Collapse Imminent!

R&R! =D