AN; Hello, everyone/thing still interested in reading this small fanfic. Yes, it has been a while since I last updated this story. I won't give you the usual 'Life was too hard' 'I got writers block' or 'I needed to get my grades up'. I, simply put, was only considering discontinuing this story, and, as you can probably tell by reading this Authors Note, ended up deciding against it. Anyways, some points regarding the previous chapter;

#1: Sissi will be an important character in this story, even if she doesn't show up in every chapter.

#2: Naruto and Aelita do acknowledge they have feelings for each other, but they won't act on it right away. Not planning on having an insta-couple here.

#3: No, my following Author's Note's (Or update times) will not be so long next time. Just used this one to clear up some things.

Anyways, now that that's out of the way, let's start off the chapter.

~Digital Ninja~

The setting of the sun brought with it the setting of a revelation. As Naruto would find out, many things in this new world were very different from his old life in Konoha, beginning with the apparent language difference. It was now a week after he had arrived and, though he wasn't fluent in it, he had learned much of the country's language. He had been pushed into a few interrogation sessions by the guy named Ulrich, gotten analyzed in the Factory thing by the kid Jeremie, and had spent his time studying with the girls Aelita and Yumi, as well as the fact that he finally managed to execute the Hiraishin no Jutsu. All in all, it was a long week, one he was partly glad to have left behind.

"Class dismissed" With those words, the blond in question snapped back to reality. He had dozed off during class again, something he was pretty sure wouldn't be left unchecked. As he stood to leave the classroom, and thus head to his next class, his cell phone beeped in his pocket. The noise irritated him, but it was a gift, and he wouldn't just turn it down. Plus, it proved useful for when he was needed. When Naruto flipped the phone open, a message awaited him, as obvious as any sign could be. 'XANA'

The boy snapped back to reality a minute later, disappearing into the bathroom so he could execute his recently acquired jutsu to make faster time. He made the necessary hand seal, concentrated on the special kunai in the Factory and, in an instant, he was gone, leaving only a locked stall to even hint that he was there.

In the Factory, Aelita and Yumi jumped back as a bumbling blonde suddenly appeared from thin air, they having just arrived themselves. After grins, smiles, chuckles and rushes, they were back on their way to the elevator, pausing momentarily while the old thing went down to the lab, and once there rushing to Jeremie to see what was going on.

"A tower was detected a little while ago. It was activated in the Mountain Sector. I've taken the liberty to—" Though, before he could finished, the blonde ninja was ushering everyone into the elevator, except for said computer boy. After waiting for the elevator to go down once more, they stepped into the scanners, awaited their transfers and entered Lyoko, Naruto giving a long hefted sigh at the rushing feeling his body experienced through the process.

As the group materialized one by one onto the world of Lyoko, they each turned to look at the blonde ninja who, in response, looked down at himself as well. His old outfit used to consist of the clothes he first wore when he arrived, but now he bore the clothes he would usually sketch out on random pieces of paper while in class. A tight form fitting black shirt which defined each and every one of his muscles with a long white coat over it; the coat had flame designs lining the bottom, with a Japanese Kanji on the back reading 'Kage'. His bottoms consisted of blue pants with a consistency which resembled that of a hakama, though they were more fitted to his form. The bottoms of his pants are tucked into his ninja's sandals and have white bandages wrapped around them from his shins to his ankles. On his hands are iron guard gloves and around his forehead a black headband with a blank metal slate on the front.

The Blonde smiled, making a mental note to thank the techno-geek later. But now, he had business and, coming back to that reality, he steeled his expression, the change notable by all.

"Alright" Naruto said, "let's get going. We need to deactivate that tower before anything happens" With a nod from everyone in the group, they all began their run to the tower. At the head of the group was Ulrich, with Aelita directly behind him, Odd to her left and Yumi to her right, with Naruto taking the rear. Along the way, they faced small threats; a few Bloks, a group of Hornets and a single Krab.

"Come on guys, we're almost—" Aelita had begun to yell out but was interrupted as Ulrich stopped abruptly, causing her to bump into his still form and bounce back, falling into the open arms of Naruto, who immediately righted her to look at the sight that Ulrich was looking at.

"Hey bonehead, why'd ya—" Was Odd's cut off reaction, while Yumi simply gaped. Naruto's eyes widened considerably, and his teeth grit together. Before them was the depression in which the Mountain Sector's tower currently resided in, but between the Lyokan's and the tower stood a sea of X.A.' monsters. The front lines consisted of already kneeling Tarantulas, their arms all aimed towards the only entrance to the valley. Behind them, peeking out in-between the spaces left by the Tarantula's were a line of Mega-Tanks still idle. The rest of the area, at least, was filled by Bloks, Kankrelats and Krabs.

Aelita was the last to look at the area, a gasp escaping her mouth when she did in fact gaze upon the scene. "Jeremie, Jeremie there's—" "I know, Aelita." Jeremie cut her off, his voice grim. Back in the Human World, said techno-geek had his head against the keyboard, his teeth grit and his throat tight.

Back in Lyoko, Naruto offered a long sigh, crossing his arms above his chest in thought. Minutes later, his deep blue eyes re-opened, full of determination, "Look, guys. Here's what we're gonna do. Ulrich, you and me are going to distract them as best we can, while Odd, Yumi and Aelita get to the Tower" Odd offered a nod, followed by Yumi, though Aelita, Ulrich and Jeremie on Earth had an odd look on their faces.

"Naruto," Jeremie began, "We still don't know what happens if you're defeated by one of X.A.N.A's monsters. We're barely able to get you through a willing de-virtualization, I don't think you can handle being forcefully-""I don't care Jeremie; I'm doing this whether you like it or not" Naruto spoke with an ironclad will, not about to let himself be beaten by Jeremie.

With a long sigh, Jeremie gave up. He virtualized the Overwing and Overboard, soon after virtualizing the Overbike. Each got on their respective vehicle, while Aelita climbed onto the Overwing with Yumi. With a nod, Naruto turned to the valley, crossing his index and middle fingers into a hand-sign over his chest, though he didn't speak. On some silent signal, both he and Ulrich sped into the Valley and, only then did Naruto yell, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Heh, yeah, gonna leave it there for now, so I guess you have a little cliff-hanger.

This chapter is set between the episodes Vertigo and Cold War, so don't gimme comments like; 'This never happened in the series' or 'X.A.N.A wouldn't waste that many monsters' I'll read them, laugh along with them, and probably cook my dinner with the flames :3