I do not own Naruto or Digimon.
"Spirit Fusion!" normal speech
"Spirit Fusion!" thought/mind speak
"Spirit Fusion!" Demon/Beast Possession speak
Chapter 7
*Mindscape*
Naruto was on the floor of his mindscape before opening his eyes and slowly pushing himself up.
"Wha…" Naruto asked as he was sitting on the floor in a slight haze, "What happened?"
"BurningGreymon tried to take control when you had approached him." AncientGreymon said as the other Legendary Warriors had surrounded the blond ninja, "He must have used the moment you contacted him to try a possess you."
"What were you thinking!?" AncientKazemon cried as she grabbed Naruto, "You're not yet ready to face a Beast Spirit!"
"…sorry…" Naruto said as he sadly looked away as he couldn't take AncientKazemon's eyes shining with tears.
The Legendary Warrior of Wind tightly hugged Naruto as the blond then returned the hug.
"We should consider ourselves lucky that Shino was around with his chakra-eating beetles," AncientBeetlemon said as he crossed his arms, "or else everyone could have been destroyed."
AncientGreymon lowered his head to Naruto's level and said, "Do you now understand why the Beast Spirits are out of your hands?"
"I thought I could just talk to him…" Naruto said as he let go of AncientKazemon and faced the giant dragon, "…guess I badly failed, huh?"
"True you did not succeed with what you had planned," the Legendary Warrior of Fire said with a tone of wisdom and understanding, "but do not look at this as a complete failure. You now had a taste of the Beast Spirit's raw power and now possess the knowledge and willpower to try and better yourself should you try and tap into the Beast Spirit's power again. I am also to blame for risking the lives of your comrades as I should have anticipated just how much BurningGreymon would fight for control. I only allowed that to happen so that you can understand just how power any Beast Spirit could be."
"We are still going to make sure that we know you are ready to try and converse with the Beast Spirit." AncientMegatheriumon said as he looked at the blond, "We do not want a repeat of what had happened yesterday."
"Yesterday?" Naruto asked the ram in confusion, "How can that be?"
"You burned off a lot more chakra than before," AncientWisetmon began as the blond looked at him now, "meaning that you were using even more chakra to just wrestle BurningGreymon for control. Then add the Kikaichu Beetles Shino had used on you had also drain more chakra from you, leaving you with barely a sliver of chakra left."
"Your Uzumaki Body should allow you to recover enough chakra for when Zabuza is scheduled to attack," AncientGarururmon said as a soothing sensation was soon over the blond, "but for now, rest as you will need whatever strength you shall gain."
Naruto smiled as AncientKazemon hugged him lovingly while she gently rocked him back and forth as fatigue suddenly took its toll on him.
"Good night…" Naruto sleepily said as he looked at the Legendary Warrior of Wind with a small smile, "…Ma…ma…"
He called me 'Mama'! AncientKazemon thought with surprise as the blond then vanished into a dream, He called me….Mama!
The Bird Woman remembered how AncientSphinxmon told her and the others how Naruto had called him Jiji and she and AncientMermaimon were happy for the ever stoic cat. Even though it hasn't been real long since they all had met the blond, the Legendary Warriors saw Naruto as a member of their little family and with Naruto calling her and AncientSphinxmon Mama and Jiji…it showed just how their bond had evolved!
"Goodnight," AncientKazemon whispered to herself with a smile under her mask, "my little child."
*Dream World*
Sasuke watched helplessly as a young man with a cold and stoic face stood over the Uchiha's parents with a bloodied sword. What made this man more intimidating were the two Sharingan eyes that ominously lit up his stone face.
"Your hatred is still as weak as ever." the man calmly said, sending a chill down Sasuke's spine, "How do you ever hope to kill me with such weak hate."
"I'll show just HOW strong I am!" Sasuke roared out as he rushed towards the man, but was stopped as the man grabbed the Uchiha by his neck and lifted him into the cold night air.
No! Sasuke thought in fear as he remembers what happens next in this haunting dream, Not again!
Before whatever the man had planned, a small hand had pierced his chest as behind him was a small boy with golden blond hair and ten wings, two of them resting on the side of his head, and light purple tattoos wearing a white robe.
"You shall never haunt this boy again." the boy said with a pure voice as the man was soon atomized in a bright light.
Sasuke fell to the ground before seeing the young boy hold out a hand in a kind gesture.
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked as he let the boy help him to his feet, "I don't remember seeing you around the village."
"I am just a kindred spirit, Sasuke Uchiha," the boy said with a small, friendly smile, "but you may call be Ribenji."
Ribenji then pulled out a small orb from his robe and said, "I am here to give you a gift from the one you call Kami. When the time is right, it shall awaken for you and protect you while giving you the power to face any foe."
"Even him?" Sasuke asked as he still wanted to kill THAT man.
"Yes," Ribenji said as his pale blue eyes shone through the darkness of the surrounding night, "even him…your own brother."
Sasuke delicately took the orb before Ribenji helped him push it inside his chest as a burning rush enveloped the Uchiha's body.
"I wish that I could stay and help you," Ribenji said as he slowly began to fade, "but I must get back to my world, but do not worry. We shall meet again in the future."
Sasuke let out a scream of pain after Ribenji had completely vanished from his sights before darkness soon overwhelmed him.
*End Dream*
*Tazuna's House*
"Guh!" Sasuke choked out as he woke up from his dream to see that he was still in the guys' room with Kakashi and Shino resting near Naruto.
It had been a whole day since their encounter with Agunimon and Naruto was out like a light after facing the possessed warrior. What bothered Sasuke about that day was that Naruto could create a legion of SOLID clones and still have energy left to spare, but Naruto was out for a whole day due to chakra exhaustion; things didn't add up.
Thinking on that dream, Sasuke thought about what he had witnessed and the burning feeling in his chest was actually still there.
Was it a dream? the Uchiha asked himself as he placed a hand over his chest where that orb of light was placed inside of him, It…It couldn't be…could it?
Deciding to wait until tomorrow to figure out the answers, Sasuke had gone back to sleep as he needed to become stronger so he could kill that man…Itachi Uchiha…his own brother.
*Forest*
Team 8 were preparing for when Zabuza would return tomorrow and they HAD to be ready if the swordsman did return. However…
"Kiba, Hinata." Kurenai said as she got her students' attention, "I'm going to have a talk with Shino, but I want the both-"
*ruff!*
"I mean the three of you to keep training." Kurenai said after correcting herself as she and Shino went to a different part of the forest.
"Wonder what's going on?" Kiba asked aloud as both teacher and student vanished into the trees.
"I don't know." Hinata answered with a worried look, "Do you think it involves Naruto-kun? He still hasn't woken up yet."
"I know what ya mean." Kiba said as he crossed his arms in thought, "I've always known the knucklehead to have enough energy to run around the entire village a hundred times and still have energy to spare. So when are you gonna tell him?"
Seeing the smirk on her teammate's face, Hinata blushed as she stuttered out, "I-I-I d-d-don't know. I really c-c-couldn't!"
"Oh come on Hinata," Kiba said as he held his arms out, "now that Naruto isn't going after Sakura, you can get him to notice ya! You can even ask Kakashi to…help bathe Naruto while he recovers, if ya know what I mean."
Hinata's face turned completely red before the young girl passed out from the many perverted thoughts running through her head as her nose began to bleed.
"Uh crap…" Kiba said as he face palmed at his teammate's reaction, "I guess I shouldn't have pushed it."
A small growl was heard from Akamaru as gave his human partner a deadpanned look towards the statement.
With Kurenai and Shino, the woman stood before the Aburame with a questioning look on her face.
"What is it that you wish to talk to me about, Kurenai-sensei?" Shino asked stoically as he looked at his teacher, "Was it about how I had threatened Sakura some time ago?"
"No." Kurenai said as she placed her hands on her hips, "This is about Agunimon and what had happened that day."
"As Beetlemon had told us," Shino began calmly, "he and the rest of their friends are looking for their lost clan and they believe that Naruto-san could help lead them to their clan."
"I knew that those Naruto clones were your own beetles under a transformation." Kurenai said as her ruby eyes shone in the light with an intimidating appeal, "I've been highly trained in genjutsu and I can see the slightest detail out of place. Also, if Agunimon did leave like how your beetles have told you, there would be evidence of his footprints or a trail that would lead us to him…There were none at all."
Kurenai saw Shino's shoulders rise up a bit and knew that she had found something as she then asked, "So what is all this about and why does it involve Naruto."
Shino was silent for a little while until he said, "I do not wish to share any of my friends' secrets."
"But what if this could jeopardize the mission?" Kurenai countered as she hardened her eyes, "With what happened with Agunimon and the amount of Killing Intent that he had, what if it happens again and he goes completely berserk? You're risking everyone's lives, Shino!"
Shino's silence had then became unnatural as Kurenai then closed her eyes and sighed in reluctance.
"Alright," the woman said as she opened her now softened eyes, " I'm not going to push any further, but if Agunimon should appear and somehow jeopardizes everyone's lives, then we will talk about this."
"Understood, Sensei." Shino said before watching Kurenai leave the area towards his teammates.
The Aburame's head then slightly fell as he then said, "That was too close. But I know she will want to talk to me again should anything like Agunimon nearly going wild happen again. I do not wish to betray Naruto-san's trust, but I may have no choice as Kurenai-sensei brings up strong and valid points. We are risking the lives of our client, innocent lives, and the lives of our friends."
Bringing a hand to face level, Shino looked at the beetles crawling on him as he asked, "What should I do? I know that Naruto values trust and friendship much higher than anything else and I respect him for holding the Kyuubi at bay along with Great Beetle-sama, but I also know that should BurningGreymon, or any of the other Beast Spirit that Naruto-san should possess and cannot control, make their appearance…"
After the beetles retreated back into Shino's jacket, the young Aburame looked towards the sky and said, "Please wake up soon, Naruto-san. I am unsure of what I should do."
*Tazuna's House*
Naruto slowly opened his eyes and after adjusting them to the light, the blond saw that he was alone.
"Where is everybody?" Naruto asked himself until he heard voices outside and took a look to see two thugs standing at the docks nearby with one of them holding Tsunami while the other one getting ready to throw Inari into the water.
With Inari, he struggled as he tried to get himself free and save his mother but the thug had too tight of a grip to let him escape.
"Hope you know how to swim." the thug said until a kunai flew by him.
"Eat this you bastards!" Naruto called out as he had a few Shadow clones with him.
Inari was dropped onto the docks and was able to crawl to where the other thug had placed his mother before watching Naruto fight the two thugs. The fight ended pretty quickly as Naruto had used Shadow Clones disguised as shuriken to strike both of them with powerful haymakers to the top of their heads, knocking them out quickly.
"Well that was weak." Naruto commented as his clones disarmed the thugs and tied them together before the original looked at Inari and Tsunami who was slowly regaining consciousness, "You guys okay?"
"Yes…thanks." Tsunami weakly said as she rubbed the cobwebs out of her head.
"You were SO awesome!" Inari cheered as he hugged Naruto, "Thank you so much!"
Naruto smiled brightly as he said, "No problem! It's what I do!"
Inari let go of the blonde and guiltily said, "I'm really sorry about what I had said to you when you first arrived here. Your sensei had told me a bit about your life and…"
Naruto gently placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder and said, "Don't worry about it. My personal secret of how I face the hardships of my life is that I look at all of the positives and keep on smiling to keep up my spirits. True that I can't smile all the time, but I remind myself about all of the good instead of the bad. I also look to my friends if I need any help from them so I'm never alone. You should do the same as I'm sure there's someone in your life that you have always looked up to."
Inari smiled as he thought of the man that he had once thought of as a father and how Kaiza had done so much for him. Inari didn't even know why he fell into that brooding attitude after Kaiza was killed after looking at the negative for so long, but he knew that it wouldn't be right for Inari to become so negative when he had to think of all the good times.
Thank you Naruto, Inari thought as he could almost see Kaiza in Naruto's smile, Thank you so much!
"Hey Tsunami," Naruto asked with a stern face, "where's the others that were with me?"
"They're with my father at his bridge." Tsunami answered as she pointed to where bridge would be, "It's not far from here so it shouldn't take too long for you to get there."
"Thanks." Naruto said as he turned around, "Listen…I'm not sure if things would go as planned but your freedom from Gato isn't going to just fall from the sky like a storybook. No. You need to act. Sure Gato may be powerful, but he doesn't have the drive to stay strong forever. So if you want your freedom…you better make sure your drive is strong enough to face down a dragon and never back down! See ya on the flip side!"
And just like that, Naruto ran off towards where Tsunami had pointed while both mother and child watch him vanish into the distance.
"Mom…" Inari said as his voice grabbed his mother's attention. Tsunami looked to find the same stern look that her son had always had, but instead of angst like the many times she had saw that look, this had something new in his eyes: burning resolve.
"Let's go help Naruto!"
*Road*
Naruto ran down the road as fast as he could since today was the day that Zabuza would attack and he needed to get there and fast.
Now how should I get to the bridge? Naruto asked himself as the trees flew by him.
He could take the shortest route by changing into Ranamon and swimming directly towards the bridge and give Zabuza another surprise. The only problem that he saw would be that since Zabuza had fought Ranamon before, the assassin knew about Ranamon's powers. There also wouldn't be a lot of water on the bridge unless Zabuza would fight on water again. Would Naruto take a chance in that?
Another short route would be for Naruto to change into Kazemon and fly towards the bridge, which would also allow him to surprise Zabuza. The problem with that would be if Zabuza used that Hidden Mist Jutsu and the mist was pretty thick with hardly any visibility.
"I'm also sure that would be a good way to counter your sensei's Sharingan." AncientWisetmon spoke up from inside Naruto's mind.
So that only leaves me Beetlemon and Agunimon. Naruto thought before realizing that Beetlemon would also be similar to the situation with Kazemon: the ability of flight, but no clear sight.
"Guess I have no choice!" Naruto said as he formed a seal, "Spirit Fusion: Fire!"
A bright light shone as Naruto was now Agunimon and was able to increase his pace thanks to having longer legs and no real bulky armor.
"Hang on guys!" Agunimon said as he rushed towards the bridge, "I'll be there just shortly!"
*Bridge*
Sakura and Kiba and Akamaru were protecting Tazuna while Kakashi, now fully recuperated, and Kurenai were facing Zabuza with Sasuke, Hinata, and Shino facing off against that hunter ninja as Kakashi was right about him being an accomplice.
"How are things going Kiba?" Sakura asked as she had a kunai ready for a possible attack on Tazuna.
"Not good." Kiba answered as he and Akamaru tried to look through the fog, "Can't even see past our noses and both sides are in trouble as I smell blood at both fights."
"Wait a minute!" the Inuzuka said as his nose twitched towards where the fight with the hunter ninja was, "Is that…Naruto!"
"Naruto's here!?" Sakura said with hope at hearing her final teammate was able to make it.
"Yeah but…" Kiba said as to took a close look at the scent, "it also seems like he brought that Agunimon guy with him."
Agunimon's with Naruto! Sakura thought in surprise, Naruto must have ran into them…but why just Agunimon as the others could help as well?
Agunimon had just stepped into the thick fog-like mist and tried to look for his friends.
Dammit! Naruto thought as he couldn't even see anything, I need to find the others, but how?
Feeling something crawl on his face, Agunimon saw a small beetle flying right in front of his face…it was one of Shino's Kikaichu Beetles!
"Good thing Shino didn't take you with him." Agunimon said with an appreciative smile, "Now can you take me to him?"
As if understanding the armored warrior's question, the small beetle began to fly through the heavy mist with Agunimon following it. It wasn't too long until the warrior saw a dome made of mirrors with Sasuke, Hinata, and Shino getting attacked from all directions by something as needles were jabbed into their bodies.
"Guys!" Agunimon called out as he then saw the hunter ninja look at him from one of the mirrors.
"So you have arrived." the hunter ninja said as the attacked on the three Konoha ninja had stopped, "I must ask you to stop what you are doing and leave. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into."
"Fat chance!" Agunimon said as flames enveloped his fists, "Pyro Punch!"
The Warrior of Fire released a barrage of fireballs from his fists as each of them had hit the mirrors, but to his surprise, none of the mirrors had showed any signs of melting or breaking.
"Please," the hunter ninja said after going through another onslaught of attacks, "I must insist that you surrender right now!"
"That's not going to happen!" Agunimon as his entire body was covered in flames, "Pyro Tornado!"
The armored warrior jumped in the air and spun around, causing the flames to spin around him like a twister, before slamming one of the mirrors with a powerful kick. While what should have completely shattered the mirror, it had only caused a small crack to form, much to the hunter ninja's surprise.
"Looks like your mirrors aren't as tough as you claim them to be." Agunimon said with a smirk on his face, "Pyro…"
*swish!*
"…huh?" Agunimon said with confusion as he was suddenly INSIDE of the dome, "How the hell did I get in here?"
"Sasuke how could you!?" Hinata called out as Agunimon looked to see said Uchiha standing outside of the dome, "How could you use a Substitution Jutsu on our own ally!?"
"He did WHAT!?" Agunimon roared in anger and shock before feeling an onslaught of needles being jabbed into his body.
After the onslaught, Shino noticed the hunter ninja distracted by questioning Sasuke on his action.
"Agunimon," Shino began as he ignored the many needles in his body, "you need to use the move that had cracked the mirror before he-"
Shino couldn't finish as another onslaught of needles jabbed themselves into the trio's bodies. The Aburame quickly used his beetles to cover himself and the others in a dome, but the needles were still somehow getting through to them.
Seeing a moment to act, small flames appeared from the warrior's gauntlets as Agunimon took aim.
"Pyro Darts!" the Warrior of Fire called out as he flew his free hand over the flames, launching a barrage of flames towards all the mirrors he could find. The barrage didn't last long as the needles were somehow snuffing out the flames before some of them jabbed themselves into Agunimon's legs, causing said warrior to fall down after hitting certain pressure points.
"I will make this as painless as possible for you." the hunter ninja said before jumping out of the mirror.
Time seemed to move slowly as the hunter ninja charged towards Agunimon, senbon needles ready to end his life.
So this is it? Naruto thought to himself as he could hear his own heartbeat, Too bad I'll die with a lot of regrets.
Before the attack could land, Hinata and Shino quickly stood between Agunimon and the hunter ninja, bravely taking the fatal onslaught of needles that jabbed themselves deep into their flesh.
"Shino! Hinata!" Agunimon cried out as the attack had ended with said duo falling to the cold concrete.
The warrior pulled himself to the duo and pushed himself up with his arms.
"Why did you guys do it?" Agunimon asked with shocked eyes, "That attack was meant for me…why?"
"Because Aguni-san…" Hinata said with a weakened voice, "you are our friend…you and your friends care so much about Naruto-kun…so that makes us friends."
"She is right…Agunimon," Shino said with labored breath, "Naruto is one of our closest friends and we are willing to protect him."
"Aguni-san…" Hinata asked as she weakly place a hand in the warrior's, "Can you…do something for me?"
"What is it?" Agunimon asked as he held back his tears to the best of his abilities.
"When you see Naruto-kun again, tell him…" Hinata said as her eyes slowly began to close, "…tell him that I…I…love him."
Shock overcame Naruto as he was watching through Agunimon's eyes until Shino placed his own hand in Agunimon's.
"I also wish to tell Naruto…" Shino began as his breathing became heavy, "…that I am glad that…that I became such a…close friend to him. I am…deeply sorry about this…Naru…to…san…"
Both Hinata and Shino became limp as tears were now falling freely from Agunimon's eyes while the hunter ninja and Sasuke watched.
"Have you ever witnessed death?" the hunter asked, getting silence from the warrior, "It is the fate of a ninja…to die in battle before their friends. This is our life."
A small whispered was heard from the warrior as the hunter asked, "What did you say?"
Agunimon then raised his head, reveal glowing blood-red eyes, and said, "I said…shut UP!"
The hunter ninja and Sasuke watched in awe and fear as a massive flame soon covered Agunimon's body while a massive wave of Killing Intent violently erupted through the area.
"What's going on here?" the hunter asked as the flames soon took on the form of a large dragon, "This Killing Intent! I've never felt such power before!"
With Tazuna, he and his young bodyguards felt the Killing Intent violently rush past them.
"What in Kami's name was THAT!?" Sakura asked as she heard Akamaru whining in fear as the pressure was starting to get to them.
"How the hell should I know!" Kiba said as he was frozen right into the ground in fear.
With Zabuza, the swordsman let out a gasp as he felt the massive Killing Intent slam itself against his body.
"What is this!?" Zabuza asked himself without revealing his location, "This much power couldn't be coming from Kakashi, that woman, OR any of those brats! No human could EVER possess such Killing Intent!"
With Kakashi and Kurenai, the two jonin felt the wave of Killing Intent hit them and making them look towards the source.
"What is this!?" Kurenai asked with fear in her voice, "This can't really be Zabuza or his apprentice! This must be…Agunimon!"
"No Kurenai." Kakashi said as he had a good idea of what was coming, "I believe that he's no longer Agunimon as he had lost control to his more primal beast form…"
Inside the ice dome, the flames that had covered Agunimon had died down and vanished to reveal a large dragon-like creature in blood-red armor with orange, feathery wings and two large spear-like weapons resting on his forearms. The beast's eyes glowed dangerously red from the sheer bloodlust it had as it had its sights on the hunter ninja. The dragon let out another wave of Killing Intent through the form of a threatening and dangerous roar.
"…BurningGreymon."
Well...things just got real. How will everyone handle the power of the Beast Spirit of Fire, BurningGreymon? Will Naruto regain control? Don't forget to rate and review!
Ja ne.
