Digital Redemption: Sasuke's Awakening
Ch.004 - Trigger Happy Bunny
Written by Wolf's Honour
Songs I listened to while writing:
Baby Bash – Suga Suga
B.o.B – Haterz Everywhere
CHEMISTRY (GUNDAM UC) – Merry-Go-Round
Nickelback – Hero
Thank You Note: Thanks for the beta-read Jessica Wolfe and WingsofRain. Your comments and advice have helped me out greatly.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Digimon. Naruto is owned and licensed by Masashi Kishimoto, Viz Media, TV Tokyo and Aniplex. Digimon is owned and licensed by Toei Animation and Creative Commons. Please support the official releases.
(* * *)
The streets of Downtown Shinjuku were crowded with people of all ages and creeds. They were all entering stores, walking in crowded side walks, driving the metal boxes called cars on the wide open cement, and living their lives without a care in the world. Sasuke couldn't help but watch over them from atop a high building, keenly interested in the fundamentals and laws of this new world.
It almost reminds him of Konohagakure no Sato, of his former home...
Shinjuku, however strangely different from his own world, had a familiarity about it. It had people living in it, enjoying their time, had their businesses to run, a police force to keep the peace. He even worked for its government, like he had in his own world when he was a Konoha shinobi. The differences were as plain as day but so were its similarities.
A soothing breeze caressed his face and parted his bangs. His hand went to his forehead reflexively, trying to feel for the Konoha headband that had once been a symbol of pride for him but touched only his skin. He pulled his hand back and looked at it for a moment. It was the same hand which he used to pierce his former comrade in the chest.
He squeezed his hand shut and banished the thought from his mind. He had been hoping to laze on the roof and bask in the calming breeze as long as possible. Not that he was tired or fatigued by yesterday's fight and encounter with the female tamer, it just seemed perfect to take a break and think clearly. About his world, his purpose in this one and . . . that.
"Sasuke?"
The Uchiha looked to his right, seeing his Dog Digimon eating a stick of dango. Gaomon took another bite and grinned. "Something on your mind?
"Its nothing Gaomon." Sasuke stated, turning back to the people below.
"Nothing is always something with you, Sasuke." Gaomon persisted.
"Hn."
"And you do that when you can't argue your point no more." Gaomon said, his grin growing wider. "Are you thinking about the red-head and her foxy-looking Digimon?"
Sasuke mentally sighed at Gaomon's attraction to the fox digimon. Still, Sasuke said nothing. Gaomon finished his stick of dango before giving the Uchiha his full attention. "If it's not about them then it must be your world you're thinking about."
Sasuke closed his eyes. The images of his former teammates and home flickering to life in his mind. Yet while those memories were prominent in his mind form time to time, that wasn't the case this time. ". . . I still can't figure it out . . ."
Gaomon grinned once more. "Its okay, Sasuke. You'll find a way back to your world eventually."
Sasuke finally glanced at his partner, a look of indifference on his face. "It's not that . . . I'm trying to figure out why it chose me." The Uchiha pulled out his black and purple D-Power, showing it to his partner. "I still haven't come up with an answer, no matter how many times I think about it. Why did this thing choose us? What's our actual purpose here? Why did..."
Why did she choose me to bear this burden?
"Oh..." Gaomon looked over the thing once before looking back at the humans on the ground below them. "Well I don't know either but I know one thing."
Sasuke looked back to his Digimon, eye brow up. "And that is?"
"We're here for a reason." Gaomon said cheerfully. "And whatever it may be, we'll find out eventually."
Sasuke gave him a small smile. "A reason..." The raven-haired youth turned back to the people below, but his gaze was on the dark digivice in his hand, his mind returning to his memories of the digital world...
A reason...
(* * *)
Sasuke was finding the company of Gaomon to be rather enlightening. They had been walking for the better part of the hour for Gaomon's home. In that time frame he had told him about Digimon the digital world, and his home. He was very open to him, which Sasuke found curious since he was a stranger to the dog Digimon.
But then a question suddenly popped in his mind.
"Why were those Orgemon chasing after you?"
Gaomon cheerful grin fell slightly. "...About a day ago my home was attacked by those bullies. They came rampaging into the village and the chief fought em off but not before they stole the Key to the chief's chest."
Sasuke looked at the short Digimon. "A key?"
Gaomon stopped and pulled a small key from his bandana, showing it to Sasuke. "Yeah this Key. It's really important to the chief but he couldn't leave the caravan unprotected so I left to go get it. It wasn't easy but I managed to snag it from those two ugly twins. Then you showed up."
Sasuke took the key from Gaomon's gloved paw, examining its details. It was old looking, black, and had a purple and white design on it. The most unique detail about it was that end where you insert it split into two flat ends. "Why only this key?"
Gaomon shrugged. "I think they were after the chief's chest, but only managed to grab the Key before the chief beat them off."
"What's inside the chest?" Sasuke asked, handing the key over to Gaomon, who put it back underneath his bandanna.
"Beats me. The chief said its something very scary but I doubt it. Nothing is scarier than the chief!"
Sasuke only gave a nod.
Gaomon laughed, and continued on his way.
In a matter of minutes they could see what looked like a camp not to far from them. Sasuke peered in between the small blue carts and the sign "Grizzlymon's Caravan" that marked the entrance. The whole place was tiny; the tents themselves were mostly dome shaped, each entrance was covered by bright colored cloth. They were circled around a large circle of boulders and the smoldering remains of a camp fire. Some of the tents and wagons, however, were completely destroyed; most likely from when the two Orgemon had attack. Walking around the tents and wagons were a motley bunch of creatures, each completely different from the others, doing their own set of chores or messing around.
Sasuke eyed them curiously. They didn't seem munch different from average villagers.
"Welcome to my home!" Gaomon exclaimed leading Sasuke into the camp.
Suddenly all of the caravan inhabitant's eyes were focused on the Uchiha and Gaomon; specifically the former. Some looked a bit frightened while others simply stared. Sasuke recalled how Gaomon had told him how Digimon reacted to new things differently. Guess this was what he meant.
"GAOMON!"
The two stopped; a short gray bear digimon wearing a blue cap backwards and belt straps around his claws and body darted towards them. He'd burst out from a large square tent that was different to all the others. It was set away on the far end of the camp and had a peaked roof.
"BEARMON!" Gaomon yelled cheerfully, running for his friend. The two stop short of each other and pounded paws.
"I didn't think you'd come back," Bearmon said, cheerful that his friend had returned.
"Well I did," Gaomon said proudly, pulling out the key he had shown Sasuke and displaying it to Bearmon. "And I managed to get the chief's Key back without any problems!"
"Hn." Sasuke let out, making his presence known to the two. "I'm pretty sure I had to help you out, dobe."
"What did you call me?!" Gaomon barked, embarrassed at having been called that in front of his best friend. Bearmon looked at the Uchiha curiously.
"Are you a Digimon?"
Sasuke looked at the Bear Digimon. "I'm not."
"He's a human from the Real World!" Gaomon exclaimed, showing Sasuke off in front of Bearmon. "He helped me beat those stupid Orgemon! He's really strong!"
Bearmon went wide eyed. "A human?!"
Gaomon nodded his head proudly once more. "Yep!"
Sasuke suddenly felt a spike of strong chakra come from within the tent where Bearmon had come from and his first instinct was to reach for his kunai, his Sharingan active as he saw a much larger bear emerge from the tent. It had two red spiked shoulder pads, a pair of red spiked claws, and a white patch of hair shaped like a pointed crescent moon between his eyes.
Above all else though, he looked extremely angry.
"GAOMON!" The giant bear yelled at the top of his lungs, scaring off the other Digimon inside their respective tents instantly which, to Sasuke, wasn't a very good sign.
Gaomon flinched. It seemed he'd forgotten how angry the chief would be. "Hey Chief Grizzlymon. I'm back?"
Grizzlymon was upon them in an instant, standing over the forms of Sasuke, Gaomon and Bearmon. He glared daggers at the Dog Digimon making Bearmon grow fearful for his friend. "I told you NOT to pursue those two! And you went ahead and did so anyways! You put yourself in needless danger and had us all worried! Not to mention the fact," the oversize bear glanced at Sasuke before turning his gaze back to Gaomon. "You brought an outsider to the village! A human no less! You know as well as I that outsiders are forbidden from coming into the caravan's camp!"
Gaomon swallowed down whatever had come up his throat and sheepishly grinned. "But I got the key back and if it weren't for Sasuke then I might not have come back at all! I think he may be the one you're searching for!"
The Uchiha narrowed his eyes at the dog Digimon remembering the stares he had received earlier. 'Gaomon knew ahead of time that I wasn't allowed here and brought me anyways?'
Grizzlymon suddenly turned back to Sasuke and stared into the Uchiha's crimson eyes. A long uneasy pause followed and Sasuke saw that the Digimon was trying to find something in his own eyes. What he wasn't exactly sure of but Sasuke wasn't going to allow the giant bear to attack Gaomon either.
"Bearmon!" Grizzlymon finally spoke.
The Digimon flinched, remembering his etiquette "Ahhh y-y-yes, Chief?" he stuttered hesitantly.
"Prepare our guest something to eat."
Sasuke stared at Grizzlymon, completely taken back by the sudden change of attitude. He watched Bearmon run inside the large tent, and then saw Grizzlymon look at Gaomon, motioning him to go inside as well. The bear Digimon began to go for the tent, before turning to look at him.
"You may enter as well. We have a great deal to discuss."
"...Sure." Sasuke followed him cautiously, wondering what exactly this Digimon knew and what he wanted.
The caravan chief's tent was large and full of unique items, each more interesting than the last. From the outside the size of the interior was deceiving as the room stretched extremely far back within. A large table was at the back of the large room, accompanied by seat cushions that seemed to shine somewhat with a long sheet of cloth covering more of the back. It seemed rather homey in this abode due to the planked wooden floor beneath, clearly laid out for the chief's comfort. Sasuke had seen many things, but he never would've thought that non-ninja related items had any sort of interest in his mind as these contraptions.
The Uchiha was sitting next to Gaomon on one end of the table, with Grizzlymon and Bearmon sitting on the opposite end. He sat in silence as Gaomon explained to his chief about how he and Sasuke met. The Grizzlymon was sitting opposite of them and Bearmon sat between them all; Sasuke could easily see the worry in his eyes when Gaomon finished speaking and soon all of their attention went to the large Digimon who had listened in silence to the entirety of Gaomon's story.
He wondered to himself just what exactly he had gotten himself into by saving Gaomon.
"Sasuke, is it?"
Hearing his name being called by the caravan's chief, Sasuke look at Grizzlymon who sat across from him and blinked. "Yes."
"For your part in saving Gaomon from being destroyed by the Orgemon Brothers, on behalf of my caravan you have our thanks." Grizzlymon bowed his head in gratitude at him, which made Sasuke feel somewhat…content. Yeah that's a good word for it.
"Hn. I wasn't about to let the dobe get himself killed."
A vein visibly bulged from Gaomon's head, which was covered in fur and made Sasuke's brow rise at the sight as the dog Digimon gave him an angry glare. "I told you I had it under control! And why do you keep calling me a dobe what even is that?!"
Ignoring Gaomon, Sasuke returned to Grizzlymon. "I want to know why those two Orgemon as you all call them attacked your caravan and made off with the key Gaomon has. What does it unlock and why is it so important to them?"
Grizzlymon eyed him suspiciously. "And what makes you think I would tell you in the first place? While you did save Gaomon, you are still an outsider, one that is a human I might add."
'Good point.' Sasuke thought. If he was still apart of Konoha, he'd have been suspicious of anyone who'd ask about it too but the story Gaomon had told him had left him curiously wondering just what was so important about this chest.
He was about to say something back at the chief, but was cut off by Gaomon who spoke in his defense. "Come on, chief! He save- I mean helped me out and he's a human! He fits the bill when you told me the story!"
"And what makes you believe this human is the one?"
Gaomon immediately nodded his head. "He has to be! He's the only human we've come across and who has the strength to defeat a Digimon! He has to be the one!"
"I do not know about this one," Grizzlymon said, unconvinced about the Uchiha. "If we simply hand it over to the first human we see the entire digital world can be destroyed."
"Well we did do that before, didn't we?" Bearmon spoke up, earning everyone's attention. He lowered his head slightly when Grizzlymon's gaze fell on him but he continued. "I mean we did try it with that one human and his partner before. Even though he was strong he wasn't able to unlock the chest anyway. We haven't seen another human in a long time so it couldn't hurt to tell him about it, could it?"
"Hold on," Sasuke spoke, getting the attention of the digimon present. "What guy are you talking about and what's this thing you're talking about?"
Gaomon turned to speak but was immediately cut off by a growl from Grizzlymon. "I will tell him." Grizzlymon then turned to Bearmon and gestured something, which made the young digimon get up and go into a crate. "You are not the first human I have crossed paths with. A long time ago a human named Ryo came and helped me fend off an attack by a group of Digimon with his partner Cyberdramon. I believed he might be the one who would be able to open the chest and tame the power within. However I was wrong for when he grabbed the key and tried to open my chest, it would turn for him. He eventually gave up and continued with his journey."
Surprised by this, Sasuke immediately asked him if he knew where this Ryo person was, but Grizzlymon shook his head no.
"It has been a long time since we last saw him. He was like you though; he didn't appear to know how he came to be in this world or why he was here. However it also seemed like he didn't care either."
He doubted that this Ryo character didn't care how he got here. That was the missing piece of information that could help Sasuke find a way to human civilization again. Even though he hadn't been here long he was already tired of this unknown world.
"Tell me, Sasuke are you from the Real World?"
"…Can't say." Sasuke said, hesitant if he should say anything more. "I don't know what this 'Real World' is."
"Where then?"
"Konohagakure no Sato…"
He saw Gaomon raise his brows as he crossed his scrawny arms in confusion. "Kono-what now?"
"Konohagakure… It's the village I was born in."
"Oh." Gaomon replied. "I knew that!"
Sasuke shook his head as Grizzlymon looked to be in thought before speaking once more. "Can you tell me anymore about yourself… anything relating to coming here."
Once again Sasuke was hesitant to respond. He didn't like talking about himself to anyone or saying anything about the village he once served. He felt a tug at his shirt and turned his head to see Gaomon grinning at him, like it was alright to speak without worry, encouraging him to go ahead and tell them. Despite the fact that he had barely just met them, seeing Gaomon's reassuring grin reminded him of a certain blonde-headed shinobi in Konoha and he felt the hesitance leave him.
"So I told them everything that was relevant…about how I got there.
About my final battle with Naruto, the mysterious voice and the Blue Card.
And about how I was suddenly engulfed in this pillar of light.
I left out key information about my life.
The things that nobody needed to know but me.
But then… I began to remember
I remembered what that voice had told me…"
"Before I was enveloped in that light, the voice told me I had a power inside of me… one that would decide the fate of the worlds. I didn't know what it meant at the time but," He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the Blue Card from it, placing it on the table in view of the other occupants. "I think it has something to do with this."
He watched Grizzlymon shift under his seat as his eyes visibly narrowed at the sight of the card. Not even a moment later he turned to Bearmon, gesturing him with a nod towards the back of the tent behind him. As Bearmon nodded and got up, leaving the table and going behind the sheet, Grizzlymon returned his gaze back at him.
"I will tell you what I told the human Ryo then…" Grizzlymon said. Sasuke caught him glancing out over to Gaomon for a brief moment before returning his gaze to him. "Long ago a being created this world for us Digimon. She was the mother of our world, watching over us and nurturing our growth as well as the world she created with the help of creatures called Digi-Gnomes. With her guiding the First Digimon, she led to the continued growth of our world and Digimon as we are now. However... there was one Digimon who was stronger than the rest of us. His name was Fanglongmon, the Balancer of Light and Darkness in our world. Fanglongmon was the trusted servant of the Mother and ruled the Digimon. He was believed to be invincible; that there was no Digimon capable of defeating him. However, as time went on, he became increasingly… unstable."
"Unstable?" Sasuke repeated as a question.
Grizzlymon nodded. "Because of his role as the Balancer, he was meant to keep balance between the Powers of Light and Darkness, which were the two powers in which Digimon were created. Yet, because of this responsibility Fanglongmon would at times become spontaneous, going into fits of rage and causing terrible destruction. There was no Digimon that could possibly challenge him and eventually no one dared to stand against him. However the Mother was the only one able to soothe him and as such kept watch over Fanglongmon, ensuring the continued growth of the Digital World. And then… a large battle began with an unknown enemy.
"Unknown enemy?"
Grimacing, Grizzlymon nodded once more. "Yes. An unknown entity appeared and attacked Fanglongmon, which enraged him and threatened to destroy the Digital World. The Mother of our World was unable to keep Fanglongmon stable and end result would have been the near total destruction of the Digital World. However, refusing to allow this to happen, the Mother gather the four most powerful Digimon loyal to her and together they used their combined power to destroy Fanglongmon. To ensure that such events could not happen again, the Mother claimed Fanglongmon's powers of the Light and Darkness and separated them, entrusting each power to Guardians who would safeguard them. However as soon as she had done this she vanished, leaving our world the way it is today."
"So I take it you were one such guardian?" Sasuke inquired, to which Grizzlymon shook his head.
"No. I was chosen as the next Guardian of the Two Powers by my predecessor. To make sure that we could not be tracked down, I founded a caravan and traveled the Digital World, staying on the move."
Bearmon returned with a small faint lavender chest in his arms and walked over to Grizzlymon. The chief took it from Bearmon and placed it on the table between him and Sasuke. The Uchiha took in the features of the chest, the most prominent was the chains that covered it with a lock sealing it shut. Oddly enough he felt his Curse Mark react to the chest Bearmon brought in and reflexively brought his hand over the seal.
"I have long guarded this power," Grizzlymon spoke, looking down at the chained up box sitting on the table. "from any who would try and claim it. My predecessor told me that only a human from the Real World could unlock the chains, just as the Mother told him and that one day the human would come and claim it for his own to either save the digital world from destruction or be its very doom. If you are that human, then only you can open the chest and take its power as your very own."
(* * *)
"SASUKE!"
The Uchiha eyes snapped open, turning to his digimon in an instant. "What is it?"
Gaomon blinked. "You weren't answering your phone."
Sasuke went in his jacket pocket and pulled out his silver mobile phone, seeing -one missed call from Riley- on it. A second later a text message popped up, also sent by Riley. He looked at his phone an opened the text.
Sasuke,
Yamaki wants to debrief you on your mission report at the site of the bio-emergence. Report to the Shinjuku Park in downtown Shinjuku ASAP.
Riley
P.S: I got a call from you teacher, Mr. Tomino. We agreed that you would start going to school ON TIME so you do not blow your cover. Start going.
Sasuke blinked and read the last part of it again. "Hn." He put his phone away before standing up. "Let's go, Gaomon. Yamaki wants to talk."
Gaomon groaned. "But I don't like that guy."
"Duly noted. Lets-" Sasuke pulled out a kunai and threw it at the water tower behind him, surprising Gaomon and embedding the metal. The Sharingan user looked at the tower intently.
"What's wrong Sasuke?" Gaomon asked trying to sense whatever had startled his tamer.
Sasuke stared at the tower a bit longer before putting his hands in his pocket. "...Nothing. Let's go." As the two jumped off to the park, a certain yellow fox Digimon appeared from behind the water tower, walking to the kunai and pulling it out.
"How did he detect me when not even his Digimon could?" Renamon stared off in the direction the two darted to. "I must tell Rika of these developments."
She threw the kunai into the wall next to her and phased away.
(* * *)
"Does anybody know why we're out here?" said one of the twelve Hypnos employees who were currently scanning the air with digital scanners.
"Something about a bio-emergence. Yeah right."
"I heard the S.R.T did a number on whatever got through though."
"Quiet. The boss is here with that S.R.T kid and his pet-"
Sasuke ignored them. He was completely indifferent about their opinions or views on him. He had learned from the days that the Special Response Team was organized that he was considered something of an executive in Hypnos. Why it was like that he didn't know but he was given an uncharacteristic amount of respect around Hypnos employees. He considered the possibility of Yamaki being the reason for that but he highly doubted it. That wasn't what was on his mind.
What was on his mind was the fact that Yamaki had gone out of his way to come to this particular site out of the many Sasuke had pacified. He learned three things about the man but the most prominent was that Yamaki never did anything unless he had a reason.
'Whatever it is, I'll look into it later.' Sasuke thought before dropping his gaze to his partner.
"Remember to stay quiet, Gaomon." He phrased as an order rather than a reminder. "I don't need another incident like the one from two weeks ago."
The Dog Digimon looked up to the Uchiha and pouted. "That wasn't my fault! He called me a pet vermin!"
Sasuke blinked. "Gaomon…"
Gaomon sighed, mumbling a "Fine" before turning away.
The two stopped walking when they were a few feet away from Yamaki, who was holding a modify card in his hand and looking at it keenly. The blonde leader of Hypnos turned his shaded gaze from the card to Sasuke, a not so pleased look on his face. "Sasuke, so you came after all." He glanced at Gaomon and his facial features went from annoyed to disgusted quickly. "And you brought your pet as well."
"Riley said you called for me. So what is it?" Sasuke asked.
Yamaki flipped open his lighter. "You tell me, your eyes can see things that my men can't see, right?"
Sasuke nodded, unsure where this was going. "My Sharingan can see a lot of things. Why?"
"A digital field is a phenomenon," Yamaki said, snapping his lighter shut, "which occurs during the process of bio-emerging as a heavy gray fog of false proteins. These proteins are infused into any digital data which manifests itself in physical form, allowing the artificial life forms to enter our world. Once the life form is pacified, the field itself dissipates, but theoretically leaves traces of data particles for a certain length of time."
Sasuke blinked. "So you want me to see whether these particles are still here or not, am I right?"
Yamaki looked at him. "What do you think?"
Uncaring for Yamaki's words, Sasuke wanted to make a remark but held his tongue back and took the hint. The Uchiha closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again revealing his crimson, black tomoe eyes that immediately began to search for any trace of data in the area.
Sasuke hid his surprise as he saw small trace of faint red particles floating about, surrounding the men at the park entrance in small stream-like lines. But what surprised Sasuke most was that the particles seemed to be sticking to the card that Yamaki was holding.
Deactivating his Sharingan, the shinobi put his hands in his pockets and turned back to the leader of the Hypnos organization. "Seems like you were right. There are traces of particles surrounding the area, although they are dispersing at a slow rate."
"And what color are the particles?" Yamaki inquired.
"Red."
"I see..."Yamaki nodded, pulling out his cell phone; he dialed something and then put it back away before handing out the modify card to Sasuke. When the Uchiha didn't immediately take the card, Yamaki said, "Consider it a reward for all of your 'hard work'."
Sasuke ignored the hint of sarcasm he heard in Yamaki's voice and took the card, checking it over before slipping it into his deck holster. "Are we done here?"
"Yes," Yamaki said. "You're dismissed."
Sasuke simply walked away, not bothering to say anything more. Gaomon glared at the blonde before quickly following Sasuke. Once they were out of the park, Gaomon growled loudly. "I really hate that guy! He only uses us for his stupid hidden agenda!"
The Uchiha sighed, keeping his stoic expression up. However he did understand how his partner felt. Yamaki was keeping something from them, that much he was certain of and whatever it was it couldn't be good, considering Yamaki's long-term goal.
Gaomon looked up to his tamer. "I mean why do we have to put up with his remarks and his stupid Hypnosis organization or whatever it's called?!"
Sasuke simply looked at his partner and blinked. "Until we know what exactly is causing these Digimon to keep coming out of the Digital World and into this one, we need Hypnos' resources. Besides..." The shinobi looked over his gaze at the organization's employees still scanning the area. "Until I know exactly what we're up against and know what Yamaki's true agenda is, we're not going anywhere."
Gaomon sighed. "Fine. I'll put up with him... But you still owe me remember?"
Sasuke swore he felt his wallet shiver in his pocket.
(* * *)
Rika wasn't having a good day.
It wasn't bad enough she had to sit through school and listen to a klutz of a history teacher yammer about the Great Wall of China, it wasn't bad enough that the very prestigious private school she went to was serving old sandwiches again. Now she had that stupid goggle-head, his pet baby dinosaur, and those two in her head now.
She had seen them in her dream last night, of them mocking her and her Digimon like they were just amateurs playing at Tamer. It infuriated her to no end that somebody thought they were better than her and she wanted to pay them back.
"And I will," she muttered, looking at her cards and her D-Power. "Once I take care of goggle-head and his pet baby dinosaur, those two are next."
She had things planned for them. All she needed to do was wait patiently for the right moment to strike.
And she knew just where to do so.
(* * *)
The two emerged from the dango stand and headed south for their usual spot. The young shinobi stared at his now seemingly lighter wallet and put it in his jacket pocket. He glanced over at his digital partner, who was holding two dango sticks in each paw, happily munching away on the pair in his right.
'Forty-two sticks of dango dumplings, twelves cups of green tea and a bag of Funyuns. Where the heck does he find the room to fit all that?' Sasuke thought to himself, imagining a black hole to be Gaomon's stomach. The very thought made him chuckle lightly, catching Gaomon's attention.
"Wha-art-yud-aghin-ad?"
"Swallow before you speak." Sasuke told his Digimon Gaomon swallowed the dumplings in his mouth and breathed. "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing you need to worry about, dobe."
"There you go again calling me that! What the heck is a dobe anyways?!
Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the beeping noise coming from his belt.
'My D-Power?' He went and pulled his D-Power from his belt, its screen was glowing red as it continued to go off like an alarm.
He suddenly felt a power emanating from across the street. Outside the entrance of an underground parking lot he saw a large red reptile covered with black markings. The reptile darted inside the parking lot and was quickly followed by a young boy wearing yellow goggles and a blue short-sleeved hoodie. Seeing this Sasuke turned to Gaomon, who had just finished off his dumplings in that instant and nodded at his tamer.
"Time to go, Gaomon."
The Dog Digimon only nodded and quickly the two ran for the entrance. Sasuke felt the familiar presences of two individuals down there alongside the boy and red reptile. The two of them saw the forms of the red haired girl from last night and the boy standing parallel with each other, a couple yards in front of them were Renamon and the red reptile fighting it out and wrecking havoc in the garage.
"Guilmon stop!" the brown haired boy shouted to the red reptile, The boys cry failed to reach the reptile-like Digimon as it's mouth glowed red.
"PYROSPHERE!" A red blast of energy shot out towards Renamon, jumped out of the way and let the blast hit the car she was standing on.
"DIAMOND STORM!" The white crystals launched for Guilmon but bounced harmlessly off the red Digimon.
'He didn't even flinch,' Sasuke thought, observing the battle while keeping his presence, and Gaomon's, hidden. He pulled out his D-Power and tried to get data on the red Digimon but the holographic screen read -No Data-. He looked at the boy next to the red-head and narrowed his eyes. 'Where did he get that Digimon?'
"Takato, what's going on here?!"
Sasuke, Rika and Takato snapped their attention to the owner of the voice. Standing at a secondary door was a dark blue-haired boy with brown eyes. He wore a black t-shirt with a high-collared orange vest over the top, white wrist bands, and dark brown pants with grey and yellow sneakers. Sitting on his head looked like a Digimon with green spotted white fur and a single horn on its head. Sasuke turned to his D-Power once again, the holographic image of the rabbit looking Digimon appearing over his screen. 'Terriermon: rookie level beast digimon. Attacks are Bunny Blast and Terrier Tornado.'
'Another tamer in our midst, huh? He seems calm and level headed.' The Uchiha crossed his arms and continued to observe the situation.
Takato let out a sigh of relief and took a few steps towards the blue haired boy "Thank goodness its you Henry!"
"Don't make me laugh,"Rika mocked the newcomers. "You honestly think that weeny little rabbit can stand up to Renamon?"
The small Digimon jumped off of the blue haired boy's head and glared at Rika. "Who you calling a weeny? Henry I think that qualifies as rude."
"Yeah that seems to be going around right now, Terriermon," Henry agreed. "There's a lot about this I don't understand. I mean it's true that on the net Digimon are born to fight, but that doesn't mean that they should fight here. Don't you guys get it? They came here for something they can't get on the net. What is it?"
'That's something I'd like to know...' Sasuke wondered, glancing at Gaomon.
"When you figure it out, Socrates, let me know. Until then..." Rika turned her gaze to her Digimon "Renamon you know what I expect."
Renamon crossed her arms over her body, preparing to continue her fight with Guilmon. "As you wish."
Guilmon began to charge at the Fox Digimon picking up the pace with each step. Renamon jumped into the air, glowing diamond-shaped shards appearing around her once more.
"DIAMOND STORM!"
Terriermon was currently looking at his reflection on the side of a car before running out in front of Guilmon; the red digimon's eyes widened and he stopped running for his opponent, staring at the smiling rabbit in his way.
"Get back!" Renamon yelled as she saw Terriermon enter her line of fire.
Terriermon looked up in shock seeing the diamond shards heading his ways.
"No!" Henry cried, running for his Digimon as the shards collided with the car and exploded. A sudden bright light flashed from Henry's D-Power, a light that reminded Sasuke immediately of the same light from his time in the Digital World.
'He's Digivolving...'
"Digivolution."
"TERRIERMON DIGIVOLVE TO..."
Large streams of green digital data started racing around Terriermon forming a large green shell of swirling data. Inside the shell, Terriermon's skin began pealing off, revealing green square lines covering a slightly darker green glowing form, which started to change as new skin replaced the old. The spiraling, green shell exploded, revealing a larger bunny Digimon with a green head and ears. He had gatling guns over his paws, a bullet bandoleer wrapped around his body and was wearing blue jeans.
"GARGOMON!"
"He promised..." Henry mumbled, fear written on his face. "He promised me he wouldn't do it."
Takato stared wide eyed at Gargomon "That's Terriermon? No way!"
Sasuke and Gaomon ducked as Gargomon fired off shots randomly at the cars and anything that moved. "He doesn't know what he's doing at all!" Gaomon shouted over the exploding cars. "He can't control himself... just like when I..."
"I know..." Sasuke muttered, trying to spot a opening before ducking as a spray of bullets flew over his head. He looked at his D-Power for data on the trigger happy bunny. "Gargomon: Terriermon's champion level. Attacks are Gargo Laser and Bunny Pummel."
Why was it always the small ones that were deadly?
"We need to stop him now, Sasuke!"
"I know, Gaomon."
"I need to stop that little gun bunny before he hurts Rika!" Renamon growled as she jumped off the wall and latched herself onto Gargomon.
"Way to go Renamon! Keep it up!" Rika shouted, unaware of the dangerous situation she was in.
'She doesn't realize what's really going on!' Renamon thought as she struggled to obstruct Gargomon's gun blazing before she was thrown off into a wall.
"This is crazy. It's like he was never Terriermon at all!" Henry cried/lamented as he hid behind the cover of a car with Takato.
Gargomon stopped firing and pointed his gun arm at Rika; the red head took two steps back into a pillar and froze in fear. 'He's really going to shoot, isn't he?'
"GARGOMON DON'T DO IT!" Henry screamed.
She snapped her eyes shut, waiting for the attack to come.
Gargomon opened fire-
Sasuke reacted instantly, vanishing and reappearing in front the girl with his kunai armed in one hand, his Sharingan spinning wildly. The Uchiha deflected the first three shots with lightning quick movement. He was unable to deflect the last two, which grazed him along his thigh and hit him in the bicep on his right arm. Sasuke bit back the pain.
"DOUBLE BACKHAND!" A spinning Gaomon came rushing to the defense of his tamer and backhanded the trigger happy bunny into a nearby car.
"Hey..."
Rika opened her eyes, letting out the breath she had been holding in. She looked at the person in front of her and realized it was the boy she had seen before, Sasuke. She blinked once, unable to comprehend his presence before looking him over. Her eye's widened in shock as she saw slow trickles of blood running down his hand from the wound he had received from Gargamon. It then dawn on her on what he had just done for her.
'He took the hit for me? But... why?'
"Your... not hurt are you..."
Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the red head, his Sharingan blazing brightly as he smirked upon seeing her fear. "Scaredy Cat."
Not wanting to look weak, she passed off the fear with an icy cold glare. "What are you looking at huh? I didn't ask you save me!"
Sasuke closed his eyes and turned away, satisfied by her response. "No...you didn't." The Uchiha returned his gaze on Gargomon, who was recovering from the backhand and getting back on his feet. He pressed his hand to his wound for a moment before taking a few steps toward his partner. "Gaomon..."
The Dog Digimon turned his gaze to his tamer, who pulled out a card from his deck holster. "End this."
'Sasuke is serious this time.' Gaomon realized before he hesitantly nodded before returning his focus back on Gargomon. The Dog Digimon raised his gloves up and moved on Gargomon, who readied his gun arm and took aim-
"DIGIMODIFY... Hyper Speed Activate!" Sasuke shouted as he slid the modify card through his D-Power.
Gaomon's form suddenly vanished as Gargomon opened fire once again, hitting the smoldering remains of a car before Gaomon reappeared at gun bunny's flank. "GAO RUSH!" Gaomon unleashed a flurry of super fast punches, impacting all across the Champion-level Digimon's body before the final punch sent him flying through a pillar and over the cement.
Sasuke nodded in approval. "Hold, Gaomon."
The Dog Digimon stopped and turned to his tamer. The Uchiha brought up his hand as electricity started to form around it. "I'll finish him myself."
Rika eyes went wide at the sight of the electricity, remembering the night he had used that same hand to destroy Apemon. "Just how is he doing that?!"
Henry ran in front of the Uchiha, his arms spread out in defense of his Digimon "You already beat him! I don't know who you are or what you're doing here but please I'm begging you leave Gargomon alone!"
"He's too much of a threat." Sasuke said to the boy, taking another step towards the downed Digimon "Now get out of my way."
"I won't!" Henry declared, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "I won't let you take my friend away from me!"
Sasuke ignored his pleas and took another step forward-
He felt a tug on the back of his jacket. Sasuke stopped and looked over his shoulder, seeing it was Gaomon who was holding the end of his jacket. He was looking up at him with sad and pleading eyes.
"Don't Sasuke... "
Sasuke blinked. "Gaomon... you know that we have to finish this. Let go."
"No!"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes on his digital partner. "Gaomon... let go. Now."
"Don't forget!" Gaomon shouted at his tamer, surprising everyone present, including Sasuke himself. "Don't forget... what happened to me..."
Sasuke's breath escaped his lungs, like he had been punched in the gut. His eyes widened as the memory of that terrible night came rushing in like a tidal wave, playing out unbidden in his mind once more.
(* * *)
A cruel and rage-filled howl filled the air.
A dark, wolf-like Digimon tore away at everything he saw. Data particles floated around him as the Digimon destroyed yet another Digimon. The wolf-like Digimon jumped upon another Digimon present, slamming a gloved paw onto the only Digimon that was left of the group. The wolf-like Digimon bore it's fangs, its lips curling into a sickening grin before it sunk its claws into the Digimon beneath its paw.
"GAOMON STOP!"
A monstrous roar was the only answer Sasuke received before the black-furred Digimon ended the existence of their opponent, the Digimon's data bursting all around them like sakura-petals covered in blood.
(* * *)
'Damn it, Gaomon...' Sasuke thought, clenching his teeth.
"I don't think he needs to be put down!" Gaomon continued, his gloved paw gripping onto the back of Sasuke's jacket even tighter than before. "He's already been beat. We don't gotta finish it like this... my tamer."
There was a long uneasy pause; the Uchiha's crimson eyes stared down at Henry's and then to his Digimon Gargomon, before he looked at his own Digimon who had the same look as Henry. Had it been the other way around, Sasuke would have been exactly where the boy known as Henry was standing, defending his Digimon.
"Hn."
Finally, after an unbearable silence with the exception of the chirping sound of his Chidori, Sasuke gave in and allowed his jutsu to die down.
"Learn to control to your Digimon " Sasuke said as he turned to the exit. "As a tamer its your duty to control your Digimon and protect this world. If you can't do either or even have the will to fight then you shouldn't call yourself a tamer at all."
Henry could only nod quietly, the tension finally dying down enough for the cool-headed tamer to breath.
Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and turned on his heel, walking past his partner and the other tamers and Digimon present. "Gaomon, let's go." He said as he made his way out of the parking garage. Gaomon followed close behind, leaving the other tamers and their Digimon in their wake.
Takato looked over to Henry. "Just who was that guy?"
"I don't know," Henry said under his breath, visibly shaking from what Sasuke had said. "But whoever he is...he really was going to finish Gargomon off."
Takato's sweat dropped. "That's impossible though. He's just a kid I mean what kid could finish a Digimon off without being a Digimon?"
Henry opened his mouth to answer but didn't have one to give.
(* * *)
Gaomon stayed down wind of Sasuke as the two walked back to Hypnos' HQ, feeling the unease that surrounded him. He didn't usually feel uneasy about his tamer but it was different when he saw how determined Sasuke was to destroy Gargomon. He may had very well have hurt the other kid too if he hadn't intervened.
Gaomon almost never went against the wishes of his tamer. Whatever Sasuke wanted to do, Gaomon wanted to do as well. His tamer's will was his command; there was not a time nor place Gaomon could think of where he had openly disobeyed his tamer. But when he had seen Gargomon, when he had seen how he had lost control of himself, Gaomon just couldn't do it. And, for the first time since they had met, Gaomon disobeyed his tamer and asked him to let the tamer Henry's Digimon go.
Now he didn't know what to say to his partner.
What if Sasuke was angry at him? What would he do to him if he was angry? What if he yelled or shouted or do something worse for disobeying him? They were scary thoughts in Gaomon's mind.
Deciding that saying something was better than nothing, Gaomon gulped down his uneasiness and fear. He opened his mouth. "Hey Sasuke..."
"Thank you."
Gaomon's brow went up, watching as his tamer came to a complete stop in front of him after cutting him off. "What for?"
The Uchiha turned to his Dog Digimon, his face as stoic as ever. "For being a dobe."
Gaomon growled. He had had it with his tamer calling him something when he had no idea what exactly he was calling him. "Seriously what the blazes is a dobe?!"
For a moment Sasuke just stared at his digital partner, contemplating what to say. He had never had to actually explain what a dobe was to anyone. In all honesty it was self-explanatory, a common enough word for anyone who was an idiot. Yet...
Sasuke closed his eyes for a brief moment, a fond memory beginning to play out in his mind. A memory of a friend came into his mind. They had been in a forest in the Land of Waves training for a quite sometime and were exhausted. They had finally limped back to their place of residence where their sensei and only rosette female teammate had awaited their return.
"We did it! We mastered the technique, Kakashi-Sensei!" the blonde said, waving out a victory poise before losing his balance and bringing Sasuke himself down to the ground with him.
"You're such a dobe, Naruto!"
Sasuke reopened his eyes and looked upon his digital partner. He took three steps forward and reached for the Digimon resting his gloved hand atop Gaomon's head. Gaomon blinked, confused by Sasuke's antics. He felt his lips curling into a very small smile, one he did not try to force down.
"A dobe."
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(***)
Wolf's Honour