AN Sorry for the wait but here is the third chapter of The Ninth Digidestined. I hope you all enjoy and figured out a system to get my stories out quicker as evidenced by my second update in two days. I do not own either Digimon or Naruto.

Chapter 3 Unleashing the Crests

The morning after their meeting, Naruto waited for them all to wake up to begin their training with his partner by his side. The two waited as they realized that these kids were that just kids they had no formal training like Naruto so he decided to let them rest. One by one the other digidestined awoke with only Tai remaining snoring his dreams away. Naruto had enough with the boys snoring so he silently walked over to the sleeping boy and shouted in his ear "GET UP YOU IDOIT!" non only startling Tai but the other digidestined as well. Without missing a beat Naruto says "Now that sleeping beauty is awake we can begin trying to unlock your crest to their fullest potential."

Tai mad about being awoken in the manor the he was as well as the the sleeping beauty comment angrily asks "Who made you in charge?"

"Well the fact that I have full unlocked my crest is a pretty good enough reason I think" the blonde responds while pulling out his crest from underneath his clothing. The other digidestined were awestruck at the fact that his crest was glowing non-stop when their crests only glowed like that when their digimon digivolved to their ultimate levels. Naruto then decided to continued "Now time to split up as I will help each of you to unlock the true power of your crest."

The genius of the group questions the blonde "Would it not be easier if we all stuck together since no person can be in more then one place at the same time?" with several of the digidestined thinking along these lines

Naruto smiled "Well maybe you can't but I can." then he proceeded to make his signature cross hand seal and shouted "Multi-shadow clone jutsu." as six more Naruto's poofed into existence behind him. Seeing the stunned looks on his fellow digidestined he figured he would need to explain himself "In my home world we can use a energy within us that we call chakra to do a variety of techniques. This is the technique I was most known for the Multi-shadow clone jutsu which allows me to manifest solid copies of myself."

T.K tries to touch one of the clones to see if Naruto was telling the truth when said clone smacked his hand away playfully. The young boy exclaimed "Wow that's so cool do you think that you could teach us how to do stuff like that?" with the rest of the digidestined curious of the answer.

"I am sorry to say but I doubt it." Naruto replied "It is impossible for any of you to have chakra coils."While some of the other digidestined were bummed about not being able to learn cool techniques, after all they are still kids, Sora informs the blonde that he made one clone less if he wanted there to be one Naruto for each digidestined. Naruto smiles and states "I believe that my conversation with the younger digidestined would be so similar that I would not have to waste chakra on making one more. However no one noticed Kurama silently laughing at how preposterous that statement sounded coming out of his partners mouth. The digidestined then broke up into groups and went to their own parts of the forest to try and unlock their crest's full power.

Tai walked behind the young blonde's clone with his partner Agumon by his side while having conflicting of the new member. He was angry at what he did this morning waking him up the way he did but also the fact that he was taking over leadership of the group. Tai was broken out of his thoughts when Naruto stated "You know you and I are a lot alike."

Tai scoffs "Yea right." thinking that there was no way that he had anything in common with the blonde.

Naruto laughs slightly then responds "You are a reckless individual that will do anything to help your friends no matter what the consequences. You act on instinct and charge your enemies rather than formulating a plan. You are susceptible to your opponent messing with your emotions causing you to do things that you wouldn't normally do."

The dinosaur digimon looks at his partner and says "Tai that sounds a lot like you."

"How did you know that?" the brown haired digidestined asked Naruto not believing that he was spot on about everything he said.

"I described my own traits." Naruto said with a smile knowing he was getting through to the brunette. Naruto continues "Your crest is the crest of courage so what are you afraid of?"

Tai exclaims "I am not afraid of anything!" while his partner looked down so that he would not give away the fact that he didn't believe Tai.

"Stop lying to me and yourself." Naruto states raising his voice slightly "Everyone is afraid of something now tell me what you are afraid of so I can help you."

Unlike himself Tai responds in a whisper "failing." but Naruto heard him and asked him to clarify what he meant. Tai responds "If I fail our world won't return to normal. I don't want to be responsible for failing my friends when they need me the most especially Kari." the boy' face goes somber as he says his sisters name.

Naruto seeing this replies "I don't what happened to make you feel that you failed your friends and little sister but you need to put it behind you. Your friends have and I am sure Kari has she looks at you as though you are her hero. I am not saying live without fear but overcoming your worse fears will make you much stronger in the long run then if you just suppress them." Seeing his fellow digidestined deep in thought about what he had just said, Naruto smiled as his shadow clone popped knowing its job was finished.

After Tai thought about what the blonde had told him, he found his resolve and mumbled "I will never let something bad happen to Kari again." not noticing his crest begin to glow.

Meanwhile Matt was staring to the point of glaring at Naruto because of the fact that he still didn't trust him. Even though he saved them from the Dark Masters, he still had to think about the protection of his little brother if this new digidestined was to good to be true.

Naruto having enough of the the awkward silence says "So you're the digidestined of friendship right?"

"Yea is there something wrong with that." Matt replied insulted by the way the young blonde said that.

Naruto chuckles "Not at all I just find it funny that a loner has the crest of friendship."

"Matt just has trouble convening his emotions sometimes due to his past experiences" Gabumon states coming to the aid of his partner.

Naruto smiles hearing Gabumon's statement which helped him by giving him the final pieces to the puzzle while Matt growled "What are you smiling about?" thinking the younger blonde making fun of him.

Naruto calmly replies "Your digimon just answered my question perfectly." After seeing Matt confused by his statement he continues "When a digimon is born to a chosen digidestined, they will have certain characteristics that the child has or wants to have. For instance with you and Gabumon, it seems as though he is somewhat of a translator of your emotions that you may not know how or want to portray. No matter what kind of mood you are in, Gabumon almost instinctively understands and acts accordingly."

Matt and Gabumon both went into deep thoughts about their past experiences and realized Naruto was right. They could think of several occasions that his statement is accurate and where this instinct of Gabumon saved them both. Seeing the expression on the boy's face, Naruto knows he is on the right path and leaves the duo with some words of wisdom "Allow Gabumon to guide you to open up to your friends to unlock your full potential."

The Naruto clone whom had was dealing with Izzy was not having a good time. The redhead kept bombarding Naruto with questions on the Dark Masters in hopes that the data he could collect would help them in their efforts. However Naruto ignored the questions thinking how he really missed Shikamaru at this moment because he would find all of these questions too troublesome.

Finally having enough, the clone walks over to Izzy and proceeds to shut his laptop causing the redhead to shout "Hey what did you do that for?"

"These questions will not help you defeat the Dark Masters." the blonde calmly states showing no emotion.

This angered the redhead as he took the statement as an insult to his intelligence and shouted "We wont know until you give me the data so we can determine their weaknesses."

Naruto sighs "I think I finally understand why Shikamaru calls everything troublesome." the blond then turns to the redhead and explains himself "I am not insulting your intelligence I am just trying to tell you that you can gather all the information in the world but it won't help if you don't know how to use it."

"What do you mean?" Izzy asks not completely understanding what he meant.

Naruto smiles and walks over to the boy "Sometimes you have to stop thinking with your head and listen to what your heart is saying." and pats the boys back before the clone dissipates.

As Izzy takes what the blond said and sits in silence which worries his digimon partner who buzzes "I think Naruto is trying to say that over thinking too much like you normally do can hurt more then help." Tentomon's words seem to have gotten to his digidestined as the young boy smiles while his crest glows.

The Naruto clone that was with Joe was in an awkward silence because he was having trouble figuring out how to help the boy. He figured through the boy's posture as well his interaction with the other digidestined that the boy had a lot of anxiety. Naruto really wished his "Kaa-chan" was here to help him but since he didn't have that luxury he decided to just ask the question "What is causing you to not believe in yourself."

Gomamon looks up at his partner and notices that Joe isn't going to answer because he is embarrassed to admit his flaws to this new digidestined so the digimon answers "Joe thinks he is useless because of his flaws such as being afraid of blood when he parents want him to be a doctor."

Joe was about to shout as his partner before Naruto stated "So your fear of blood makes you think that you aren't reliable to your team." Seeing the boy nod his head in confirmation, the blond continued "Did you ever think that maybe all of the pressure you are putting on yourself to get over your fear is the reason why you can't?"

"What do you mean' the blue haired boy inquired.

Naruto explained "Well the woman I called baa-chan was a world renowned medic ninja for most of her life until her little brother and love interest perished. She blamed herself that she wasn't there to save them in time even though everyone around her said otherwise. The sight of their bodied corpses caused her to develop a fear of blood and doubt her own abilities as well. It wasn't until she met me when I recklessly tried to save her getting myself wounded close to death in the process that she overcame that fear and told herself she was going to save men no matter what. From that point on she not only overcame her fear but proved she was one of the best ninjas in the world becoming the Fifth Hokage."

Joe was stunned that someone who was considered one of the best healers in the blond's world could ever have the phobia that he has. That gave him hope that someday he could get over his fears and become one of the best doctors in the world which caused him to smile. Seeing this Naruto pats his back and exits saying "Having the crest of reliability doesn't mean you always have to be the one that has to be relied on, some times you need to rely on others.

Joe takes his words to heart and turns to his partner "Can you help me overcome my fears and I will do everything I can so that you can reach your potential?"

"Of course Joe that's what friends are for and I am sure all of your friends will help you too." Gomamon responds with his partner silently agreeing with that statement as his crest begins to glow.

Mimi told the Naruto clone with her that she had a surprise for him and quite it a surprise it was a the girl revealed that her crest was already glowing. "When did this happen Mimi?" the blond asked astonished that she already achieved what the others have not.

Mimi cheerfully explained "It happened last night after you came to cheer me up. After hearing about this Hinata person, I decided I wanted to be like her and it started glowing bright.

Naruto smiled "Well I guess you don't need my help after all so I will just..." and was about to dispel himself before the girl interrupted him telling him to stop. With a confused look on his face, Naruto asked what was the matter. She asked the boy if he could tell her more about Hinata and the rest of his friends from his world which he happily obliged as he began telling the adventures that he shared with his friends.

There was an awkward situation between the Naruto clone and Sora because while the clone was trying to figure out how to talk about a topic that Naruto was unfamiliar with, love, and all Sora could think about was everything the boy went through in his world. That moment however was broken whenever when Sora instinctually wrapped the young boy and hugged him thankfully not tight enough to break the clone though. The girl realized that her instincts took over quickly broke the hug and told the boy she was sorry.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckles "You're just like Ayame onee-san."

"I thought you were an orphan" the older girl asked puzzled by the blond's statement while at the same time being flattered by the notion that she reminded Naruto of an older sister figure.

Naruto explained "She wasn't actually my older sister but she always acted like she was. She would try to comfort me when I was sad, make sure I always had something to eat and tried to protect me as best that she could." Naruto took a second after realizing how much he missed people back in Konoha before asking "You probably are like that with Kari and T.K as well huh?"

Sora nods and states "Yeah I don't know why but I just always feel the need to care for everyone especially the younger ones."

'I wonder why her crest has fully activated yet unless..' the blond thinks before asking "Do you not think that they feel the same way?" The girl's silence was his answer "After everything that you have all been though there is no doubt in my mind that they all love you just as much as you love them." Sora for the first time believed that the bond that the bonds that she had made with her new friends would last a lifetime and her crest began to glow. Naruto however decided to ruin the touching moment "I think that you want to be Kari's big sister for real in the future."

The girl face turned bright red at the accusation of the blond and exclaimed "I have no idea what your talking about." not wanting to talk about her crush.

Naruto smirks "Tai and Sora sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G first comes.." before he is interrupted from a fist to his head by Sora dispelling the clone. With her face still red from the embarrassment, Sora angrily marches her way back to the group with Biyomon giggling at the interaction between the two.

The six older digidestined came back to the the younger ones seeing that Naruto was showing them his ninja techniques. The majority of them were curious why neither Kari's or T.K's crest glowing similar to theirs but before any of them could voice their opinions Naruto says "Are you all ready to test out your fully activated crest powers"

Matt decides to be the first to ask "Why didn't you help my little brother and Tai's little sister crest glow like you did with us?" with the others nodding wondering the same.

Naruto explained "Like I told them their crests are one of the hardest to fully unlock as well as them being fairly young doesn't help. T.K crest is hope which means he would have to never have any doubts to be at maximum potential. However him being a young kid he has doubts and fears that would only be overcame with time but that doesn't mean that he can't release the crest in burst. Kari is in a similar situation with only being able to release her crest power in short bursts. The crest of light calls upon the user to begin a beacon of pure light. Even though that seems like a good thing, being a beacon of pure light is impossible for any being as there is darkness in everyone. If anyone tries to destroy that part of them they would lose their personality and become unrecognizable to anyone they knew." Seeing that his message got though to the older generation, Naruto asked "So are you ready to put you crests to the test?"

The six digidestined nodded as their partners began to digivolve to their strongest level but something appeared differently on their digimon now. The digidestined crest and color were now present on all of their digimon like Wargreymon had before except that the crest were constantly glowing their crest colors. Tai asks "So what do you think of our digimon now?" thinking that the blond would be impressed by their new upgrade.

"Your digimon are much stronger then when you got destroyed by the Dark Masters and you are on their level now but now it seems as though we have to knock you down a peg." Naruto states and turns to his partner "Are you ready Kurama?"

Kurama yawns as he was just awoken from a nap "I guess I hope they put up a better fight then those Dark Master losers." and walks next to his partner.

Naruto smiles at the fact that his friend has and probably will never change and he wouldn't have it any other way. He looked at his comrades looking insulted by Kurama statement so he shouts "Bio-merge activate" as a white light envelops the duo.

Once the bright light faded so that the others could see again the saw the behemoth of a fox digimon. Kari not seeing her new blond friend cries out "Where did Naruto go?"

Kuramamon answered "I am here Kari, Kitsunemon and I combined together to become the mega level digimon Kuramamon." Seeing how this fact stunned the others, the fox stated "Give me your best shot." The six digimon started launching their strongest attacks at Kuramamon and the idea was for Kuramamon let the attacks hit to gauge their and fire them back to devolve the attackers. This plan however didn't go nearly as planned as all the attacks were stronger than he anticipated. By the time it got to Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon's turn the duo had to launch their attacks back almost immediately as Kurama's pride influence was enough that they would not take damage by beings weaker then them.

After the two reflected those attacks back, Kuramamon devolved due to the energy it had put out between the two sets of fights. Naruto looked the other digidestined and their partners and they all looked dejected from their loss so he asked "Do you know why I did that?"

"To humiliate us." Tai angrily shouted frustrated at how bad they had just lost.

Naruto sighed "No I did that to teach you a lesson that no matter how strong you become you should never view yourself as the strongest or that you have reached your peak. If you do that you will stunt your and your digimon's growth so you should always strive to strengthen you bond and grow stronger." After seeing the digidestined understand where he is coming from he chuckled while scratching the back of his head "And besides you should all be proud. Kurama and I underestimated your new strength that we almost had to fight back isn't that right buddy?"

"They were alright." the fox digimon replied before falling back asleep.

Naruto laughed "Well that's the best you are going to get out of the prideful Kurama. So let's go to sleep as tomorrow we will be going after the Metalseadramon." The other digidestined smiled at the praises that the blond had just said while being excited about starting their journey to save the digital world.

Find out how the battle with Metalseadramon turns out next time in Courage's First Test