A Shinobi A Long Way from Home

Chapter III

Reasons For Fighting

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Digimon, wish I did.

XXX

Naruto had decided that he was done watching and that it was time for him to make his presence known the only way he knew how, a flashy entrance. So with the help of Falcomon's Firecracker Smokescreen they were able to do just that. When the smoke cleared both Takato and Rika were surprised at the identity of the newcomer. "Hey wait your that new kid in my class, Naruto right?" Takato asked.

"Yup and your Takato and I take it that your friend over there is the one I have to thank for getting us out of school so early." Naruto said causing Takato to blush in embarrassment at his lack of keeping track of Guilmon earlier. Naruto then turned to the other person that he knew of, "Rika-chan what a small world this must be to find out that you're a Tamer too." Naruto said with a fox like grin.

"DON'T CALL ME –CHAN YOU WHISKER FACED IDIOT!" Rika yelled at Naruto with her face turning red, though whether from anger or embarrassment wasn't clear.

Naruto was about to further tease the redhead but he was interrupted by Takato, "Uh Naruto, what are you doing here?"

Naruto turned and gave the Virus type tamer one of his patented fox like grins before saying, "Well you see I got bored of watching Rika-chan kicking your sorry asses and thought that she might appreciate an opponent that is actually willing to fight back."

Once again both of the other tamers were shocked but Rika quickly regained her composure, "So you think that you and your little owl friend can actually stand a chance against me and Renamon."

"Grrrr, I'm not an owl I'm a falcon!" shouted Falcomon, really getting annoyed that everyone keeps calling him an owl.

"Whatever bird-brain, I wasn't talking to you anyways. I was talking to the blonde baka standing behind you." Rika said coldly shooting down Falcomon.

Naruto managed to get Falcomon to calm down before he started chucking shuriken at the redhead. Once Naruto was sure that Falcomon was cool he sent Rika a challenging look, "While I don't like the way you were speaking to my feathered friend over here Rika-chan my offer still remains open, how would you like to fight an opponent that can actually fight?"

"I told you to stop calling me that! Oh you know what screw it walk all over them Renamon!" shouted the now red faced tamer.

"It would be my pleasure." said Renamon as she leapt into the air and crossed her arms. "Diamond Storm"

Naruto however just smirked at how quickly Renamon was going in for the kill, "Falcomon you know what to do."

"Right" Falcomon said as he now called out his attack, "Ninja Blade". Everyone was expecting Falcomon to immediately target Renamon however they were shocked when they saw she wasn't Falcomon's target. What Falcomon was aiming for was knocking the Diamond Shards out of the sky and Renamon's control and it was an overwhelming success.

"Wha- that's impossible. No one has ever prevented her from launching that attack." Rika said not comprehending what she just saw.

Naruto heard what she said and decided to throw his own two cents in, "Just because no one has done it before Rika-chan doesn't mean it isn't possible. While Renamon's Diamond Storm is deadly it takes a while before she is able to launch the attack, meaning it's too slow." Naruto was just grinning like an idiot at seeing the look of raw rage coming from the redheaded tamer.

"It was a lucky move, but Renamon won't be defeated so easily." Rika said glaring at the blonde tamer standing not too far away from her trying to intimidate her foe.

However her glare didn't even phase Naruto and he just kept on smiling, "Oh I know it will take more than that to defeat her." Naruto said further enraging his fellow tamer.

"DON'T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME! I'M THE BEST TAMER THERE IS AND NOTHING IS GOING TO STOP ME AND RENAMON FROM WIPING THE FLOOR WITH YOU AND YOUR BIRD-BRAINED PET!" Rika shouted completely giving into her anger and losing focus on the task at hand.

"It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself of that instead of me Rika-chan." Naruto said as he once again further pissed off the redheaded tamer whose face was now as red as her hair with fury evident on her face.

Takato for his part was amazed that Naruto was getting under this girl's skin so much. He just seemed to know which buttons to press to get her angry. However he quickly turned his attention to the fight. Renamon for her part was just as frustrated as her tamer that her attack was neutralized like that. However unlike her tamer she managed to keep a level head about the whole situation. She then decided that if long range attacks won't work then she needs to beat the stuffing out of this bird with her fists. "Power Paw" Renamon shouted as she made a bee line for Falcomon.

Falcomon however was expecting this and was prepared for his counter, "Firecracker Smokescreen!" he shouted dropping his bamboo explosives once again creating a cloud of smoke that engulfed both him and Renamon making it very difficult for the fox Digimon to see.

"Ah what's the matter big boy, to afraid to face me head on?" Renamon taunted hoping to draw out her opponent.

Falcomon however wasn't going to fall for such an obvious ploy, "This is how I fight Renamon. I am a ninja and we prefer to strike from the shadows when our opponent's guard is at their lowest." Falcomon said projecting his voice throughout the entire smokescreen making it virtually impossible for Renamon to tell which direction he is in.

This did little to unnerve Renamon but she kept herself on high alert and made sure to listen to her surroundings very closely for anything that could tell her where her opponent is. "Strike Slash!" shouted Falcomon as came at her from behind. She quickly spun around and used her Power Paw to block the attack as best she could. Once she successfully blocked the attack she began attacking herself not letting the dark feathered Digimon get away from her. Falcomon though made no attempt of retreating and fought Renamon blow for blow impressing the yellow kitsune with his close quarter's combat ability.

It was at this point that Rika decided it was time to up the ante as she pulled out a card from her card holster on the back of her belt, "This is just unacceptable Renamon. Digi-Modi" was as far as she got when another voice called out to them to stop fighting.

All three tamers and their respective partners looked up the hill where the voice came from. There stood the boy that Naruto saw earlier that followed Takato out of the school when he went looking for Guilmon. He had blue hair and a tan complexion, he was wearing a black T-shirt and orange vest over it. He was also wearing black pants and grey shoes with some yellow in them. "It's you." Takato said as if he was relieved that he was here maybe he can diffuse this whole situation.

"It's him, it's me and aren't you happy to see us?" said what looked like the cross between a dog and a rabbit with very long ears. Naruto decided to pull out his D-Ark and saw it was called Terriermon.

"A Digimon?" Rika asked to no one in particular her confusion apparent. "Ok this is just getting a little too weird their popping up everywhere."

"What's going on, why are your two Digimon fighting?" Henry asked as he drew the attention back to himself.

"What do you mean 'why', that's what Digimon do." Rika said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"They're not fighting machines, and they're not our slaves or pets either, they're our friends they just wanna do the same things we do." Henry said as Terriermon hopped into his arms wrapping one of his large ears around Henry's shoulders. "What about you, why did you have your Digimon fight?" Henry asked Naruto.

Naruto just gave them all his fox like grin, "Why for training of course." Naruto said.

To the rest of them that answer came completely out of left field, "Training?" repeated a confused Takato, "Training for what?"

Naruto gave the virus tamer a mischievous look before replying, "I don't know." That wasn't the answer any of them were expecting either and they all fell down at the sheer stupidity of the answer. "However, I do know that there are Digimon appearing here in Shinjuku, some maybe friendly but others won't be and they won't hesitate to attack an innocent person and I want to be strong enough to prevent that from happening." Naruto said with unyielding determination burning in his sapphire eyes.

After hearing that Rika scoffed at that, "Pfft fine if you wanna go off and play Mr. Hero then be my guest. However make sure you all stay out of my way." Rika said as she managed to get back on her feet. Once standing again she turned and began to take her leave but paused and looked over her shoulder and glared at the blonde tamer, "And don't think this is over, you and I have a score to settle Whiskers."

"Yeah yeah I love you too Rika-chan. Thanks for the spar by the way." Naruto said with a smile as he waved good-bye to the fiery haired tamer. Rika blushed at the 'I love you' part and quickly turned her head so the others wouldn't see it and began making her way home. Now that Rika and Renamon were gone Naruto figured now would be a good time to get introductions out of the way. "So what's your name and before you say that it's rude to ask for someone else's name without giving your own my name is Naruto Uzumaki and this is my partner Falcomon."

The blue-haired boy smiled before responding, "A pleasure to meet you Naruto, my name is Henry Wong and this is my partner Terriermon."

At this point Takato decided he should introduce himself to Henry as well, "Hi Henry my name is Takato Matsuki and this is my partner Guilmon."

"So anyways aside from fighting, what were you guys doing out here?" Henry asked figuring that would be a good place to open up a conversation.

"Well I don't know about Takato but Falcomon and I were gonna go look for a spot for us to train so we can be prepared for any Digimon that happens to crossover to this side." Naruto said as he looked towards Takato wondering what he was doing here.

"I see, and what about you Takato?" Henry asked.

"Oh me well I was looking for a place for Guilmon to hideout in since I can't keep him at my house. My parents would freak if they saw him." Takato told his fellow tamers.

"Well if it's a place to hide Guilmon you're looking for I think I might know a spot." Henry said as he began walking beckoning for the other two tamers and their Digimon to follow. Both Naruto and Takato decided to follow the half-Japanese boy. They didn't have to walk very far and when they arrived they saw a stone shed with a metal gate in the front.

"It's perfect!" exclaimed an excited Takato, "Thanks for the help Henry."

"No problem Takato. What about you Naruto are you gonna keep Falcomon here as well. I mean he's a little too big for you to convince your parents that he's a stuffed animal." Henry asked genuinely curious how the blonde keeps his partner a secret from his parents.

At the mention of his parents Naruto's mood soured and he took on a melancholic look. The other two humans noticed this and the tension in the air thickened, "I don't have any parents. They died the day I was born protecting me. I currently live on my own with my guardian sending me money to support myself from afar."

"Oh, I'm sorry about bringing that up. It must have been tough." Henry said, genuinely sorry for bringing up what was obviously a sensitive topic to the blonde.

Naruto however didn't hesitate to put on a smile though it was slightly forced but only he knew that, "Don't worry about it, you didn't know and I'm used to fending for myself so you have nothing to be sorry about."

That made Henry feel a little bit better but he still felt guilty for bringing it up. Takato sensed the tense atmosphere and decided that they needed a change of subject. "Hey Naruto you seemed to know that girl, who is she?"

Naruto was glad that now the subject of his parents is no longer the focus of the conversation. "I wouldn't say that I know her Takato but I have met her before. As you know I just recently moved here and one night I went out to get some food but ended up getting lost. So when I decided to look around for someone to give me directions the person I ended up asking was that girl. She pointed me in the right direction and then we split up. I honestly wasn't expecting to see her again."

"I see, but man what was with that girl? How can she believe that Digimon are only here to fight?" Takato asked not really expecting an answer as he watch the three Digimon play.

"Some people are just like that I guess." Henry said not necessarily understanding what's going through the girl's head.

Naruto had an idea of why the girl was the way she was one look in her eyes told Naruto many things. However he decided not to voice this since it would just make Takato and Henry curious as to how he knew. His musings were interrupted by Takato's next statement, "I guess, but man when I found out that Guilmon was the one that raided the cafeteria, I knew I had to find a place with a lock."

"Hey he might have just saved our lives. It's only a matter of time before they poison us." Henry joked with the goggle wearing tamer.

"I've been meaning to ask about that." Naruto said once again entering the conversation, "I walked past the cafeteria earlier and the smell of the food made me wanna throw up. Is it really as bad as it smells?" Naruto asked desperately needing this question answered.

Henry and Takato just exchanged a look before saying simultaneously, "No, its worse."

"Good to know then." Naruto said, "Well after all of today's excitement I think it's about time for us to get home. I'm sure Falcomon is getting hungry anyways."

At the suggestion of food the three Digimon stopped playing and gave their tamers their undivided attention. "Hey I'm hungry." Terriermon said perched on top of Guilmon's head.

"But you just ate." Henry said surprised that Terriermon is hungry so soon.

"So what's your point, momentai." Terriermon told his tamer as he somersaulted off of Guilmon's head and onto the floor before running up to his tamer.

Henry just gave a light chuckle, "Alright dinner time." With that said Henry began making his way home with Terriermon hanging from his shoulders.

"Yeah I'll see you guys later." Naruto said as he and Falcomon made their way for home.

Takato just stood at the top of the stairs with Guilmon as they waved off their new friends, "Takatomon I'm hungry too." said the now hungry red raptor.

"Great, see what you just started Naruto." Takato shouted to the blonde only to get a grin from the secret shinobi. "By the way what does momentai mean?" Takato asked the other duo.

Terriermon just turned from where he perched, "Haven't you figured that out yet, it means take it easy!"

Meanwhile Rika was walking along the sidewalk going over everything that happened today. Her mind especially kept replaying the fight Renamon had with that whiskered faced bastard's bird-brain of a Digimon. It was only a Rookie level Digimon and Renamon has taken down Champions before so why did she have such a hard time with him. She was stopped at a cross-walk waiting so she can cross the streets. However timed seemed to come to a halt around then as she called out to Renamon.

"Yes Rika." Renamon said, already having a pretty good idea what this was going to be about.

"How could you embarrass me like that Renamon, you should've been able to take down that sack of feathers with ease." Rika demanded immediately pinning the blame for the results of today's fight entirely on Renamon. While the fight was interrupted before a winner could be decided so she didn't lose the fight but the fact that she also didn't win either angered her no end.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Rika but that Falcomon was strong and a worthy opponent." Renamon said hoping to try and alleviate some Rika's frustration.

"Renamon I'm the best tamer there ever was and I won't accept anything less than perfection." Rika said almost as if trying to reassure herself of this.

"So you are, I never said you weren't." Renamon said not really getting where Rika was going with this.

"Then if I'm the best then how is it there someone else out there who can match me and why haven't you Digivolved?" Rika asked.

"I don't know why I haven't Digivolved Rika but for that boy so far matching don't you think that's a good thing?" Renamon asked.

"What are you saying?" Rika demanded as she narrowed her eyes giving Renamon a look saying that she'd better pick her next words carefully.

Renamon to her credit was unfazed by the look Rika sent her, "What I'm saying Rika is that boy and his partner could be a rival of sorts, someone to help push us harder so we don't fall behind and eventually work to become better than them."

Rika gave the idea some thought and had to admit that what Renamon said made a lot of sense. While she was already driven to be the best having some competition for it would motivate them to work harder. "You make a good point Renamon, perhaps Whiskers isn't totally worthless, and you're right he would make a good rival."

With the conclusion of their conversation time seemed to flow again like it was supposed to and Rika began crossing the street. Renamon will be the best, like me. And next time we won't hold back against them.

(A Few Days Later)

School had just let out and Naruto was on his way home when he saw a whole bunch of black vans with satellite dishes on the top of them all parked right next to the park. I've only been a part of this world for a little more than a week and even I know that if those vans don't scream big secret undercover government agency then I don't know I what will. Naruto decided to see what all of the fuss was about. He managed to sneak into the park without the guards noticing, and he quickly found the guy in charge. It wasn't that hard, considering everyone seemed wary to look him in the eye and his posture screamed 'I'm the boss'. Naruto decided that he might as well and see what was going on around here. "Oi Secret Agent-san!" shouted Naruto as he ran up to his fellow blonde.

Yamaki turned the sound of the voice and noticed boy no older than fourteen running up to him. "What are you doing here kid this is a restricted area?" he asked.

"Oh it is, well then you might want reconsider who you put on the payroll for your hired muscle, those guys out there aren't too bright seeing as a five year old could sneak past them. Besides I like cutting through the park when I leave school. There's just something about nature that fascinates me." Naruto went on, trying to be as unassuming as possible. "So anyways Secret Agent-san what's up with the guys in the hazmat suits there isn't some kind of deadly virus going around or some kind of radiation leakage is there?" Naruto asked keeping up the pretense of a boy with a wild imagination.

Yamaki just narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses, "What the scientists are up to is none of your concern, and what makes you think we're secret agents?"

Naruto just gave the older blonde a deadpan stare, "Really, you're really asking that question. Black vans with satellites on them, the big dumb guards in suits trying to look intimidating, the lack of police. Do you not watch movies? You guys fall right into the stereotype to the letter. If you're trying to be covert about this then at least try to blend in with the crowd and use the freaking police. They are much less assuming since most would just think their investigating that banged up fence over there."

Yamaki at this point had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. The boy was right about everything, it was pretty obvious that they worked with the government. However Yamaki quickly pulled himself together. "Look kid I don't have time to deal with you right now so just go home and leave the adults to their work."

Naruto was internally smiling at how things were playing out, so far Yamaki was buying into his act. Now it was time to get the information he was looking for, "Sure thing Secret Agent-san but I'm just curious about something. I saw you pick up that card your holding and you were staring at it for a while. But what I don't understand is why I mean unless this has something to do with Digimon and if that was the case than that'd be awesome. Can you imagine just how awesome it'd be if Digimon were real?" Naruto said more enthusiastically as he kept talking to make it look like he was a boy that was a huge Digimon fan and was excited at the possibility of Digimon being real.

Yamaki didn't say anything but Naruto still got what he was looking for. It was brief but at the mention of Digimon Yamaki flinched and Naruto saw it letting Naruto know that this man knows about the existence of Digimon and the organization he's working for does too. What that organization does with this knowledge, Naruto could only hamper a guess. But Naruto got what he was looking for so he decided now was the time to bow out before Yamaki started getting suspicious of him. So once Yamaki told him to go home again Naruto left without an argument.

(A Little While Later)

Naruto had already gone home and have set up some clones to do his homework. It made him wonder though why all the old-man and Tsunade baa-chan always complained about paperwork and not have shadow clones do it for them. Anyways Naruto had decided to once again roam the city to try and familiarize himself with it. While he could've also had shadow clones do this for him he wanted to get the experience himself. He was walking through one of the main business districts when he noticed Takato walking around with Guilmon out in the open. Naruto had to resist the very strong urge to face palming. Takato soon crossed paths with a little boy with his mother and the boy was amazed at seeing a real life Digimon. Although Takato told him that Guilmon wasn't a Digimon but a guy wearing suit. The boy and his mother instantly bought it and then left with the boy waving good-bye to 'the guy in the suit'. "You know I'm surprised that worked. Where I come from no one would've believed you." Naruto said gaining the attention of Takato and Guilmon.

"Naruto, I didn't even see you there. What's up?" Takato asked pleased to see his new friend.

Naruto just shrugged, "Eh not much still just trying to familiarize myself with the city, this place is fucking huge."

"Yeah it takes some time before you know where everything is." Takato said, he was about to continue his conversation with Naruto when both of their D-Arks went off and only had a red screen. Both of the tamers were confused at what it meant but they noticed that Guilmon's eyes dilated and began growling. Takato asked Guilmon what's wrong but instead of getting an answer Guilmon just took off running. "Ah hey Guilmon where are you going, ah nuts." was all Takato said before he took off after his partner. Naruto ran after them as well knowing that Falcomon wasn't far behind. They chased Guilmon until they were at an underground parking complex.

Naruto quickly noticed that Renamon was present if Renamon was here that meant that Rika had to be as well. "Oi Rika-chan, come on out already. I know you're here." Naruto shouted and just like that Rika appeared from behind one of the support columns to the parking lot already looking at the blonde's presence.

"What are you doing here Whiskers?" Rika asked leveling another one of her glares towards the blue-eyed tamer.

Naruto just smiled at her, "Oh you know just hanging out with Takato here when all of a sudden Guilmon just ups and leaves. So I decided to follow since I was curious as to why."

"Whatever." Rika said ending her conversation with the blonde and turned her attention towards Takato, "So goggle head are you ready to fight this time, is your little dinosaur out of diapers yet?" Rika taunted.

"This is so stupid, why do you want to fight me and Guilmon? I figured you'd rather take on Naruto and Falcomon." Takato asked.

"Oh believe me he's next." Rika said as she glared at Naruto once again only to receive his infuriating smile in return, "However our fight hasn't been settled since this baka interrupted it the other day."

"Oh you wound me Rika-chan, why must you always say such mean things to your best friend." Naruto said being overly dramatic about the whole thing.

"Stop calling me that, and we aren't friends you baka!" Rika shouted at Naruto. She glared heatedly at him before forcing herself to calm down. Once calm she looked at Takato, "So we gonna fight or what."

Takato was about to tell her no when Naruto opened his mouth again, "Sure Takato and Guilmon will fight you." receiving a surprised look from Rika and a horrified look from Takato.

"Wha- Naruto why, what are you talking about, us fight them they'd cream us." Takato asked his new friend confused as to why Naruto is putting him in this situation.

Rika just smirked at Takato's admission of being weaker than her and Renamon. However Naruto would have none of it, "It was bound to happen sooner or later Takato and it'd be best if you and Guilmon learned to defend yourselves. Besides Rika-chan and Renamon aren't unbeatable you just have to be smart about what you're doing. Besides Guilmon has a serious advantage over Renamon." Naruto told Takato making sure Rika couldn't hear him.

At the sound of Guilmon having an advantage over Renamon and it being entirely possible to beat her Takato was hanging onto every word that Naruto was saying however he was a bit skeptic. "What do you mean Guilmon has an advantage over Renamon, she has way more experience. Guilmon has never been in a fight outside the one that happened the other day."

"True, Renamon has more experience and is a far more skilled fighter however she lacks the raw power to do any serious damage to Guilmon. I don't know if you noticed but basically created a living breathing tank. In case you forgot Renamon launched her finisher move at Guilmon the other day and the attack just bounced right off of him. So as long as you do whatever you can to keep Guilmon's defensive strength up then it will just come down to a battle of attrition and that would make Guilmon the winner." Naruto told Takato, and with all of this information Takato actually started believing that maybe they could win.

"Alright fine, if you want to fight Rika we'll give you a fight." Takato said with unwavering determination.

Rika for her part was surprised at the change in demeanor for Takato, before he was a scared little boy but then once he got done talking to Naruto he looked ready to fight. She then just turned her attention to the blonde, "What did you say to him?" Rika demanded.

"Oh nothing much Rika-chan, just gave him some advice. You don't mind do you? I mean after all this is their first real fight without getting ambushed into it." Naruto said with his fox like grin stretched across his face.

Rika just scoffed, "Whatever it's not like it's gonna save them."

With that all the players took up their positions, Naruto decided that for it to be fair he would be the one to declare when the fight can start. "Is both sides ready?" Naruto asked getting a nod from both tamers and Digimon. "Then FIGHT!"

Guilmon decided to launch the first attack, "Pyro Sphere!" The fire ball was launched from Guilmon and his aim was true. However Renamon quickly dodged the attack before retaliating with her own attack, "Diamond Storm!" Hundreds of diamond shards rained down on Guilmon but just like in the park they bounced right off him causing minimal damage at best. After the failed attack Renamon dropped to the ground and charged at Guilmon and hit him square across the face with her Power Paw attack. Guilmon was sent flying into one of the nearby cars.

"Ah Guilmon are you ok?!" Takato asked while internally thinking that this may not be the best place to have the Digimon fight. What with all of the damage they could cause to the surrounding area. Naruto was actually thinking the same thing as well but it was too late now. Guilmon quickly picked himself up from the wrecked car almost completely unfazed by that last hit and made a bee line for Renamon, "Rock Breaker!" Renamon jumped out of the of the attack and watched as Guilmon put a nice dent in the concrete floor. Guilmon turned and launched another Pyro Sphere in her direction and while it was a direct hit she was still nicked by the attack.

Rika had to admit that this was one tough Digimon even if it was young. It was clear to her that while Renamon was clearly the superior fighter, she just didn't have the power to do any significant damage, luckily for her she just the card to change that, "Digi-Modify…Power Activate!" With the rush of power that Renamon felt she quickly jumped into the air and prepared her attack, "Diamond Storm!"

Rika had a victorious smirk on her face thinking that this was over now however something she didn't expect happened, "Digi-Modify…Rock Armor Activate!" Soon enough rocks began to conform to Guilmon's form and just in time to as they took the brunt of Renamon's deadly attack.

"What?!" Rika shouted in confusion though the frustration wasn't missed by anyone.

Takato for his part was feeling quite proud of himself. Naruto was right, they can beat Rika. They were about to continue the fight however they were interrupted, "What is going on in here?" shouted Henry.

Everyone present turned to look at him all feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. "Oh, hey Henry." Takato said nervously to his new friend not sure how to handle this situation.

"Again I find you guys fighting, why, why do you guys keep forcing your Digimon to fight?" Henry asked, not understanding why they insisted on fighting.

"This again, I told you already that's what Digimon do they fight and when they win they get stronger and when they get stronger they Digivolve. I have question though, why are you so sentimental about all of this, they're just data." Rika asked making her thoughts on the subject of Digimon clear.

The other three tamers looked at the amethyst-eyed girl. "Digimon are not just data they're living beings, how could you say such a thing?" Takato asked.

"Simple goggle-head, Digimon are just data. Nothing more and nothing less and the sooner you get that through your head the better. After all I'm sure Whiskers gets it that's why he was strong enough to match me the other day." Rika said forcing everyone to look at Naruto to get what thinks about Digimon.

Naruto just shook his head, "Your wrong about me Rika-chan, while it's true that Digimon are made up of data like we are made of flesh and blood, Digimon also have hearts and emotions and that is what makes them alive. Also the reason I'm strong isn't because I see Digimon as an expendable commodity but, no matter how cliché this is, it's because I have those that I care about and want to protect. I've seen it too many times in my life too know that true strength comes from wanting to protecting those you care about and the more people you have the stronger you become." As he was saying that a certain effeminate looking boy came to his mind, those words that the boy said to him all of those years ago stuck true to him like glue.

Everyone there, including the Ice Queen Rika, were amazed at how sincere and passionately Naruto spoke those words. "So Rika-chan if you don't mind I'd like to ask, why are you so obsessed with making Renamon Digivolve?" Naruto asked turning everyone's attention back to the fiery haired tamer.

"It's simple, I want to be the best and no one is going to stand in my way. Now if you don't mind you and I have a fight to finish goggle-head." Rika said restarting the match.

Renamon prepared to use her Diamond Storm attack while Guilmon charged at her, what nobody noticed though was Terriermon running out right into Renamon's line of fire and cutting off Guilmon, "No get back." Renamon tried telling the digital bunny but it was too late. Her attack rained down on Terriermon however something unexpected happened.

"NO TERRIERMON!" Henry shouted as he tried running towards his friend when he noticed his D-Ark was going haywire.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Terriermon Digivolve to…Gargomon!"

When the smoke cleared there stood Terriermon in his Champion form, "Gargomon huh, what a difference. His attacks are Gargo Laser and Bunny Pummel whatever that means." Rika said as she read the information her D-Ark provided her. Everyone gazed upon on the giant rabbit but soon everyone but Rika decided to take cover as he began opening fire on everything in sight.

"This is exactly what I was afraid of, he's just not ready for that kind of firepower yet!" Henry shouted to no one in particular.

"Ninja Blade!" called Falcomon as he decided that he needed to get involved in this otherwise someone could get hurt. Falcomon unleashed a hail of shuriken at Gargomon only for Gargomon to shoot them down and continue on as if the shuriken weren't even there. Renamon soon jumped on his back to try and pin him down but the Champion would not yield. He managed to throw her off of him and kept Falcomon from getting any closer. Guilmon tried to tackle him but Gargomon just sidestepped the charge causing Guilmon to crash head first into a wall.

It didn't take long before Gargomon had blasted everything in sight, well everything except for one Rika Nonaka. Everyone could see the fear in the girl's eyes as she realized that she was the next target for the out of control trigger happy bunny. And for every step Gargomon took Rika took a step back. It wasn't long before she was backed up against a wall. Gargomon raised his arm preparing to shoot, No, is this how I'm gonna die, killed by an insane trigger happy bunny. Rika closed her eyes waiting for the bullet that bring about the end of her life. However she heard the sound of a gunshot but didn't feel any pain. She dared to open her eyes and what she saw will forever be burned into her memory. It was Naruto kicking the arm that was aimed at her way so that Gargomon missed her. He then quickly turned and picked her up bridal style and ran away from the currently deranged rabbit. With Rika out of harm's way the other three Digimon rained unholy hell down on the poor rabbit. By the time they were done Gargomon was finally in control of his actions but was in a lot of pain.

It took a while for Rika to eventually calm down from her near death experience but for some reason she couldn't explain this sickeningly warm sensation she was feeling by being in Naruto's arms like this. However she soon regained her composure, "Hey put me down you pervert!" she yelled with her face red from embarrassment.

Naruto looked down to the girl in his arms, "Is that any way to talk to the guy who just saved your life?" Naruto asked as he put her back on her own feet.

"Yeah well, thanks I guess. Anyways I'm out of here." Rika said.

As soon as she left Naruto was approached by Henry and Takato, "Naruto way to go with saving that girl that was extremely reckless of you." Henry said.

Naruto just smiled to his blue-haired friend, "Yeah well I tend to do that quite a bit. Anyways I think we need to get out of here, the cops are bound to come after all the damage Gargomon caused." And just like that they heard the distinct sound of police sirens and decided now was a good time to bail before they get caught.

XXX

A/N: Well that's chapter three for ya, I hope you all enjoy it.

I want thank all of you that have been supporting my story so far. So keep posting more comments and I'll be sure to get you more chapters.

By the way I want to put a request out to any talented artist. If you'd be ok with doing a cover image for this story I'd be really grateful to you. While I like the one I have currently it just doesn't fit the story.

Also I'd like put out a challenge to any dedicated author, I have several story challenges posted on my profile page. If any of you are up to taking on one of these challenges please let me know as I'd like to read that story.