Naruto Shippuden: Millennium Wars

by KitsuneDragon

SEQUEL TO TAMER OF THE X-ANTIBODY! Three years have passed since the fall of Lucemon and the loss of the three who felled him. Shinjuku is safe. However, a single invasion act has set off a chain reaction resulting in the awakening of an ancient evil of the Digital World that threatens it and the worlds linked to it. A call to bear arms has been issued. War is on the horizon.

14. Chapter 14:Spark of War

Naruto Shippuden: Millennium Wars

Chapter 14: Spark of War

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon and Naruto. I also do not own any piece of content that is a reference to an actual organization body, comic, cartoon, anime, etc. Though I do wish I did own them. I do own this story.

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Flashback

Kazekage Tower, Sungakure no Sato, Elemental Nations

A few hours ago

The group of Konoha shinobi, Temari and BlackAgumon all managed to reach their destination and entered the shinobi village of Kaze no Kuni. They moved through the village, but they took note of the tense atmosphere that seemed to hover over the village.

"Something's not right." Temari said, speaking more to herself than the others. It was then that Baki appeared before them in a swirl of sand and wind. The advisor of the Kazekage raised himself up from his kneeling position before looking directly at the fan wielding blonde.

"Temari, you're back."

"Baki, what's happened here? Something doesn't feel right and I don't know why, but it just does." She told the Jounin. Baki sighed before nodding in confirmation.

"Indeed, something has went wrong in the village." Baki said. "It's Gaara."

"What happened?" She all but growled out, her hands forming tight fists.

"It was the Akatsuki." Everyone's eyes widened at that statement before the tan skinned man continued. "We tried to help him, but Kazekage-sama told us to stay out of the battle because we were more of a liability to him."

"And you listened to him?!" Temari snapped. "Orders or not, you are shinobi of the village of Sunagakure no Sato! You do not abandon Gaara under any circumstances!"

"But it was true, Temari." He replied. "The Akatsuki member used a jutsu to craft explosives, and they were capable of being used at long range. Because of Gaara's duty as Kazekage and a shinobi of this village, he was forced to defend the village itself when the opponent used it as a distraction to attack Gaara himself. Gaara was taken and now we can't find him since they left on a giant bird of some kind."

Temari's eyes widened and her knees buckled beneath her, but Shikamaru quickly moved to catch her by the shoulders so she wouldn't fall.

"Woah. Ok, yeah this is some heavy stuff."

"G-Gaara's...Gaara's gone?" She whispered.

"Also...this is a message for the Konoha-nin." Said Konoha shinobi all looked at the advisor of the Kazekage with confused expressions on their faces. "We have a visitor here whose friend is in great need of medical assistance. From the message we received from your Hokage, we were informed of who she was sending as Temari's escort team and so we informed him that Tsunade-sama's apprentice would be a part of the team. He is in dire need of your assistance."

"Who is this person?" Sakura asked with great confusion.

End Flashback

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Hospital, Sunagakure no Sato, Elemental Nations

One Day Later

"I need a few more buckets of water and some towels soaked in cold water!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Sakura immediately took charge of the hospital staff that was in charge of providing treatment to Rika Nonaka. She tied her hair up into a spiky ponytail, similar to the style that Shikamaru wore, and set to work. The required supplies were set before her on a separate table where she first took one of the cold towels to wipe away the sweat formed by the fever Rika was undergoing. Her body temperature was extremely high and it wouldn't work to just let the body sweat out the fever as some people in the Real World would. Especially since this fever was poison induced.

She then held up her hands to one of the buckets of water and applied chakra to her hand. She placed her hand directly atop the water and then she raised her hands up, the water sticking to it like glue. The pink haired student of Tsunade now held a large glob of water before raising Rika's top to just below her chest.

The water seemed to phase through her skin and underlying flesh, almost as if she had no substance. Sakura's hands glowed with the bright emerald glow of healing chakra, sweat being wiped from her brow as she concentrated on the task at hand. She raised her hand and the bubble of water followed after, now holding a cloudy appearance as the dark violet-black substance that was Sasori's poison, floated within. The medic-nin in the room all watched in fascination at the method of poison removal.

She had been at this process for well over five hours now, but there was still no end in sight for the amount of poison she had to extract from the fiery haired girl before her. She glanced to the side as she prepared another water bubble, looking at the distraught expression upon the face of the Kyuubi jinchuriki. The two younger boys beside him were patting him on the shoulders, muttering soft words of encouragement to get him through it.

She then pulled out the bubble and she released a sigh of relief as she saw the water was completely clear.

"It's done." She said. She had been working tirelessly for the past twenty four hours, but she had finally done it. "I've extracted all of the poison from her body."

"So...she's gonna be better, right?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes staring hopefully at her.

"Not entirely. Her body would have most likely metabolized some of the poison before I arrived, so she will still be extremely sick. I will have to go through the process of studying the poison to develop an antidote, but with the amount we have and the amount of herbs and medicinal flora stored here in Suna, I'm sure I'll be able to whip one up in a matter of hours." The student of Tsunade replied. The pink haired medic frowned when she saw the distraught look on her former teammate's face, realizing that those weren't the words he had wanted to hear. She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "She'll get better and I'll make sure of it. Ok?"

Naruto nodded and then headed out the door, Henry and Takato following behind him. The three of them then came to a stop in the hallways as the team from Konoha were present before them. A period of silence passed between the two before Naruto sighed. He motioned for the others to follow him, and so they did. They climbed along the walls of the medical care building and sat on the roof where the Digimon were shown to have been waiting for them.

"How is she?" Renamon asked. The normally stoic Digimon was quite filled with worry and it was reflected in her tone of voice and her eyes.

"Sakura says she extracted the poison that was in her body, but they can't be entirely sure she's been cured so they're gonna take the poison and try to reverse engineer a cure from it." Takato explained.

"Well...that's better than her being actually dead I suppose." Terriermon muttered. "We like our friends a lot better when they are alive."

There was no argument to that statement.

Dorumon and Gatomon sat down beside their tamer and patted him on the shoulders.

"She's a strong girl, Naruto. You know that better than we do." Gatomon said.

"She'll pull through." Dorumon assured him.

The Kyuubi jinchuriki remained silent, the words of his Digimon partners falling on deaf ears. The silence reigned supreme for quite a while as Takato, Henry and the Digimon had absolutely no idea what to tell their former leader at this point. The silence was effectively broken though when one Sasuke Uchiha hopped onto the rooftop, the other members of the Konoha shinobi-sines Sakura- and BlackAgumon following after him.

"Never thought I'd see the day you would be so quiet." Sasuke commented. Takato, Henry and the five Digimon partners present all turned and glared at the raven haired shinobi. However, Naruto's glare put all of them to shame.

"I don't need to put up with your shit today, teme." Naruto spat, venom in his tone. "In fact, I don't want to put up with you at all. You got me banished! Do you have any idea what I've had to go through because of me having to save your sorry ass?! Do you?!"

"I didn't ask to be saved, dobe!"

"And I never asked to save you!" Naruto snapped. "I wanted to save you because that was I was ordered to do, because you were my best friend and because I made the promise to Sakura that I would!"

"If it weren't for the Kyuubi then you'd never have won that fight." Sasuke growled as his Sharingan blazed to life

"If it weren't for the Kyuubi I'd still have my parents, but either way, we all can't get what we want, teme." Naruto's eyes burned with the crimson of the Kyuubi. "If I had known all of this would happen, if I had known that this is what would have been my 'reward' for rescuing the village's prodigal son...then I should have just let you go to Orochimaru."

"Naruto, you don't really mean that." The blonde shinobi-tamer turned away from the raven haired shinobi to look at his former sensei, raising an eyebrow.

"And who are you to judge what I actually mean?!" The blonde asked rhetorically. "You're just as bad as he is."

"Excuse me?" The silver haired ANBU's eyes widened at the level of hostility he was being shown.

"Don't play that 'I don't understand what he's talking about' bullshit with me, Kakashi-sensei! You barely taught Sakura and I anything! Sure, upon actually thinking about it, it was to actually keep the teme loyal to the village, to think that he could gain power within Konoha's walls! Look how well that turned out! Everything useful I've learned up until my banishment, I learned from Ero-sennin! Sure, we had a tough love relationship, but he still was willing to teach me! He taught me the Kuchiyose no Jutsu and the Rasengan, and speaking of the Rasengan...you knew who my parents were! You knew Tou-chan was the Yondaime Hokage and yet you kept that from me!"

"Alright, that's enough." Shikamaru interrupted the Kyuubi jinchuriki's emotional rant. "Look, Naruto, we understand that you're pissed, which is an understatement..."

"Obviously." The blonde jinchuriki snorted.

"But Tsunade is still the Hokage and ever since you left, the civilian council has been completely removed. That council was what held the majority vote to make your banishment a reality, and with them gone we can probably talk with Hokage-sama into helping you. She still cares for you, Naruto." The Nara heir explained.

"I know Baa-chan does..." Naruto sighed. "...but I'm not going back to Konoha. Ever."

The Konoha shinobi had their eyes wide with shock.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata finally spoke up for the first time since she had met the object of her affections. "Naruto-kun, Konoha is your home, the home of your parents. You have to come back. All your friends...all of us..."

"Hinata, it doesn't matter anymore." He looked at the Hyuga heiress with a softer gaze than what he had shown his former teammate and sensei. "I've been effectively removed from Konoha. I'm not as naive to the way the world works as I used to be, and I realized I looked at the world through tinted lenses. I thought I was doing well, gaining the acknowledgement of my peers and the village...but because of what I am..." He placed his hand on his stomach.

A moment of silence passed. Kakashi scratched the back of his head and sighed.

"Alright. If that's what you want, I can't stop you, but will you at least work with me for this mission?" Kakashi asked. "For old time's sake?"

Naruto looked behind him. Takato, Henry and the Digimon all shrugged their shoulders.

"We'll follow you no matter what you choose bro." The goggle-wearing Tamer replied. Naruto smirked, snorting in amusement.

"You really haven't changed that much, Takato." Naruto turned back to Kakashi and a serious expression adorned his face. "Well...it depends, Kakashi-sensei. What's the mission?"

"Gaara was kidnapped by one of the Akatsuki members and most likely taken back to their base to extract the Ichibi from him."

'So that's why Sasori probably left so suddenly.'

"Makes sense. To go up against the Akatsuki with the meager forces they have and whatever Suna-nin that are gonna accompany them is still akin to suicide. Your friends, including those brats from the Real World, are at least Chunin level, Hatake is an ANBU, and you are at least Jounin level. Your little rag-tag group will be able to stand a chance with our power on their side. Though...you do realize they are taking advantage of your hero complex and loyalty?"

'Yes, but I'd probably go save Gaara with the other Tamers even if these guys hadn't shown up. I need Gaara as a resource and also because he's my friend.'

"Good. You're not as naive to not consider your friends in power as not resources." Kurama said. "Ask if they know where Shukaku's jinchuriki is now?"

The son of the Yondaime Hokage was about to commit to the act of asking the question, but Henry spoke first.

"Wouldn't this mission then fall under Suna's jurisdiction?" Henry asked. All eyes turned to the half-Chinese Tamer and the blue haired boy suddenly found his jacket sleeve to be very interesting. "Well...I mean, this is another nation's leader that was kidnapped. Why would they send for help so soon when they would probably want to rescue their Kazekage with their own resources?"

"You got a sharp mind, kid." Shikamaru said with a smirk.

"I'm sixteen, I'm not a kid."

"That's quite rude to call my Tamer a kid." Terriermon patted his partner on the head. "He's a big boy. Ain't that right buddy?"

Shikamaru chuckled at the interaction between the rabbit-dog Digimon and his Tamer. "I apologize. But while the point is valid, it doesn't apply here anymore. When we arrived here yesterday, Kakashi-sensei and Baki, who is acting as the stand-in Kazekage until we get Gaara back, spoke with each other regarding the loss of the Kazekage by the Akatsuki."

"Since we were already here, Baki and I agreed to send a messenger hawk to Konoha asking for permission to expand our mission parameters and aid in the retrieval of the Godaime Kazekage." The former ANBU commander informed his former student. "Hokage-sama has approved for us to aid with the missionve already sent out Pakkun and the other nin-ken to follow Gaara's trail along with some of Suna's WIND members to help him navigate through the desert. They should be back soon hopefully."

"WIND?" Takato asked. "What is that?"

"That's the thing that blows through the air, Takatomon." Guilmon answered, looking at his Tamer like said Tamer was an idiot. The red scaled raptor blew a gust of hot air at the brown haired boy's face. "Like that. I thought you were smarter than that, Takatomon."

Takato gave his Digimon partner a deadpan stare. "Smartass."

"Oi, that's my job." Dorumon and Terriermon pouted before turning to each other with small glares.

"What are you talkin' about it being your job? I'm the smartass here, not you!" Terriermon growled.

"Shove it, Pwincess Pwettypants. If anyone's gonna be the resident smartass here, it's me. I practically invented it among our little group of Digimon, you just picked up the scraps after Gato-chan and I left!" Dorumon snarled.

The two Rookies growled at one another, lightning sparking between their intense gazes. Henry and Gatomon sighed. The half-Chinese Tamer pulled on his partner's ears while Gatomon yanked Dorumon onto his ass with a sharp pull of his furry tail. The two Rookies yelped in pain, holding their assaulted body parts.

"So mean." They muttered.

"Is this how it usually is?" BlackAgumon asked.

"No. They're usually much worse." Henry, Naruto and Gatomon replied in unison. Terriermon and Dorumon placed their paws and claws, respectively, on their chests, mock hurt apparent in their eyes.

"How you wound me so." They declared in a faux British accent.

Henry rolled his eyes before turning to Takato. "To answer your question, Takato, WIND kinda sounds like Suna's black-ops team. Like how Konoha has the ANBU."

"On the nose." The silver haired ANBU tapped his mask covered nose. "Every nation has an ANBU, but the other four nations of Iwa, Suna, Kiri and Kumo all have titles for their ANBU so as to differentiate themselves from us, seeing as how Konoha was the first shinobi village to form and develop the ANBU program. Suna has WIND, Kiri has TIDE, Kumo has BOLT and Iwa has ROCK."

"So...you're the only people who actually go by the name of ANBU then?" Renamon asked.

"Pretty much." Kakashi shrugged. "So, in the end, all we have so far regarding details is that Gaara is in Akatsuki's hands and that Akasuna no Sasori is one of the two members who took him."

"So we don't know where Gaara is."

"Yet." Hinata piped in. "I'm sure we'll find Gaara-san soon, Naruto-kun."

Naruto gave the Hyuga heir a small smile before turning back to his former sensei. "Well...alright, you have me. I'll help you out...but on a few conditions."

"And what could you possibly gain from this, dobe?"

"Oh, I have a lot to gain from saving Gaara, teme. Don't worry about that. However, I'm not stupid...not anymore. If we're gonna help you guys out, we're not doin' it for free and I sure as hell am not doin' this for old time's sake. Old times got me banished and as you can see, I can really hold a grudge." The Konoha shinobi all looked at Naruto with disbelief.

"That's very well thought out." BlackAgumon commented. The black scaled Rookie turned to see the Konoha shinobi all turning to him with the same expression they gave to Naruto. "Well it is!"

"What are your conditions then, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

The godson of Jiraya raised a few fingers. "You may want to write this stuff down because I'm not repeating myself. But even if you do forget, I got these guys..." He gestured to the other Tamers and the Digimon. "...and a giant demon kitsune to vouch for me. Now like I said, not doin' this for free so first, I want a cut of the pay. However much you guys are getting paid for this mission in its entirety, I want at least twenty-five percent. Second, I want any information Konoha has on the Digimon."

"Why would you want that?" BlackAgumon asked.

"Besides, the Digimon appearing has only been investigated recently. We won't have much to offer in that regard." Kakashi added.

Naruto shook his head. "Doesn't matter. The Digimon have been showing up here for longer than I originally thought since I've been...away. And there's no way in hell that they are bio-emerging for no reason. Something happened that let these guys through and I wanna know what."

Takato, Henry, Terriermon, Renamon and Guilmon all had a bit of a nervous look on their faces at that note.

"Third..." Naruto counted down a third finger. "...I want my freedom. You said you won't stop me from being a wanderer in the beginning, but I want your word as a shinobi, as my father's student and as someone I call my friend...leave me and my friends alone. I have something closer to a regular life now that I'm not in a place that sees me as just a weapon or a demon, and I want to keep it that way."

"You'll have to come back to Konoha with us for that to happen." The Kyuubi jinchuriki scowled and stalked towards Kakashi. The blonde forced Kakashi to look up, his solid 6 foot frame dwarfing Kakashi's 5'9 and the uncovered obsidian iris stared into fear instill red.

"You're a skilled liar, Kakashi." Naruto growled. "I told you before, I'm not going back there. Not of my own volition."

"And I told you before, I won't stop you from going on your way. I'm not trying to force you to come back with us, but I'm telling you that my asking alone won't get Hokage-sama to let you go. And neither will it get the council to remove the bounty on your head. Actually, the bounty might remain, but we may be able to take it off of Konoha's Bingo Book, and we can only strike a deal to give you as much possible freedom from our shinobi if you come back and we manage to strike a deal. I want to help you, Naruto. I truly do."

The Kyuubi jinchuriki's eyes glowed within their sockets. "You're a skilled liar, Kakashi." He blinked and his eyes reverted back to their original sapphire blue. "But you're not lying now. I'm not going back, but we'll see what happens at the end of this mission."

"...We'll see." The Sharingan using Jounin replied. "So...is that it?"

"Hmmm...actually, I do have one more condition?"

"And what's that?" BlackAgumon asked.

Naruto's eyes became cold and unforgiving as his killing intent spiked. "When we get to Akatsuki's base, you don't get in my way. Akasuna no Sasori dies by my hand, and mine alone. That goes for you guys as well."

The Digimon, Henry and Takato all looked at Naruto in shock.

"But Naruto..." Takato and Henry moved to argue against their former temporary sensei's wishes, but the blonde looked over his shoulder. His sharp gaze caused them to sweat slightly.

"You can fight anything and everything else, but that damned piece of puppet shit is mine!" The two Real World natives swallowed the lumps that formed in their throats. They slowly backpedaled and nodded their heads in compliance.

"Fine, but...you're gonna be the one to tell that to her." Kakashi pointed a finger to the left and all eyes shifted in that direction to see a rather old lady standing there.

The elderly woman was rather short, about as tall as Hiruzen when he was still alive, and had light coloured skin which was adorned with wrinkles and liver spots to signify just how old she actually was. Her hair was a dark shade of lavender with two large bangs which framed her face, and was tied up into a bun. A maroon coloured band was worn around her head. Her outfit consisted of an outfit that was common to the people of Sunagakure which was a dark coloured, loose-fitting out fit with a poncho-like top. Her black eyes stared at the group of Konoha shinobi before they widened sharply upon meeting Kakashi.

"Konoha no Shiroi Kiba/Konoha's White Fang!" She exclaimed. The elderly woman moved at a speed that did not reflect her age at all, having cleared the distance between them in what appeared to be a single step. However, as she went to strike Kakashi in the chest with a palm strike in tandem with a knee that would probably make him infertile, Sasuke had taken the initiative to appear in front of his commanding officer and blocked the palm strike with right forearm while also drawing his chokuto from its sheath and blocking the knee with the flat of the blade.

Shikamaru's shadow then quickly lashed out and latched onto the woman's own before rising up and wrapping itself securely around her body.

"Shiroi Kiba, you will pay for taking my son and daughter in-law away from me! You left my grandson an orphan, and I will put you down like the dog you are!" She snapped.

Kakashi sweatdropped and waved his hands in a feeble form of defense. "Actually, I'm not him. Shiroi Kiba was my father, Sakuma. I'm his son."

The killing intent from the old woman died away as she blinked in confusion. "Son?" She narrowed her eyes before laughing loudly. "Ara ara, my mistake. The years are really catching up to me if I can't even tell the difference between you and your father. You're far too young, and your father...much taller. Yes, much taller."

'This bitch...' Kakashi thought with a deadpan stare.

"Kakashi-sensei, who is this woman?" Hinata asked.

"This is Chiyo-sama. She was a master poison user back when Tsunade-sama was still in her prime, and was a lethal weapon on the battlefield during the Second Great Shinobi World War. She was the first person to ever devise an antidote for Sansho no Hanzo/Salamander Hanzo's poisons." Kakashi informed his Chunin compatriots.

"Well, it's good to see some people still know me even after all those years."

Kakashi gave her an eye-smile as he gave the motion for Shikamaru to release her from her shadow bindings. "So, what brings you to the rooftop gathering of friendship, Chiyo-sama?"

Chiyo laughed at Kakashi's joke, everyone else merely giving the ANBU captain a deadpan stare. "Well, I came to tell you that your dogs and our WIND members had returned a few moments ago. They have the location of our Kazekage. But I'm mostly here to tell you that I will be joining you on your little search and rescue mission."

"Really?" Sasuke asked. "Poison artists aren't exactly known for full frontal assaults."

"I may old and retired as a field operative, Uchiha, but I am far from useless." Chiyo snapped before flicking Sasuke on the forehead, causing the raven haired boy to wince as he rubbed the stinging area. "As for you, Kyuubi jinchuriki..." She turned to Naruto and a far more serious expression adorned her face. "I'm afraid that the right to kill my darling grandson should go to me."

"Grandson?" The gears in Naruto's head turned before his eyes widened. "Sasori's your grandson?"

"Yes, and the act of killing family for their actions should go to the family, should it not?"

"While I understand that, Chiyo Baa-chan...he hurt someone I care very much about and now she's here in your hospital undergoing treatment. I can't let that go...not when it's Rika-chan. If you want to kill your grandson, you're going to have to either get to him first or fight him with me. Either way, I'm going to be in that fight."

Chiyo stared deeply into Naruto's eyes, black meeting blue in a tense moment of silence. The elderly woman smiled, patting the whisker marked blonde on his face. "Why Konoha chose to banish you, I will never understand. You have fire in your eyes, boy."

"Thanks." Naruto grinned. "I get it from Kaa-chan."

'What...just happened?' Everyone thought.

"Seventeen years." Kurama muttered. "You've been my jinchuriki for seventeen years and no matter how many years go by, I am still never going to be able to understand how the hell your type of charisma works."

'I'm just that awesome.' Kurama rolled his eyes at his jinchuriki's response.

"Yeah, and I'm not a carnivore." Kurama's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I swear, you merely talking to people should be an S-Ranked jutsu."

'What would it be called?' Naruto asked out of sheer curiosity. The nine-tailed Bijuu shrugged its massive shoulders within the confines of its cage.

"I don't know, but for some reason Talk no Jutsu seems to be very appealing."

Naruto would have replied to the fox's suggestion, but he found himself currently occupied by Chiyo pinching his cheeks like any old grandmother would to their grandchild, innocent smile and all.

"What...are you doing...to my face?" He asked between the stretches of his cheeks.

"You have such a round face."

"I get it from my Kaa-chan."

"It reminds me of my Sasori-chan."

Naruto blinked owlishly. "I...I don't really know how to feel about being compared to your homicidal criminal of a grandson."

Chiyo laughed at the blonde's response before letting go of his face as an loud screech echoed across the skies. Everyone's head tilted skyward where they saw a brown hawk circling above their heads. The hawk's screech was quickly followed by the sound of dogs howling in the distance.

"Seems Pakkun and the others are back." Kakashi said.

"And that hawk means we should head to the Kazekage's Tower now and meet Baki-san." Hinata added.

"Well, let's go. I'm not getting any younger and I do so wish to see my Sasori-chan again." Chiyo once again displayed a level of physical prowess that was very much uncommon for a woman of her age, hopping across the rooftops towards the residence of their temporary leader. Sasuke and Kakashi were quick to follow, Shikamaru not too far behind. However, as Hinata was about to follow after her fellow Konoha shinobi, she turned back to see Naruto hadn't made any sort of motion to jump after them.

"Naruto-kun?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"You go on without me, Hinata." Naruto gave her a reassuring smile. "A lot's gone on and I really need to talk to these guys first. After that, I'll meet up with you guys at Gaara's office and you can fill us in on the details."

The Hyuga heiress's pale eyes stared directly into the blue orbs of the object of her affections. She frowned slightly, but nodded her head before heading off after her friends and Chiyo. Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head as he watched the dark haired girl vanish into the distance. He then turned around sharply, causing his fellow Tamers and the Digimon to flinch.

"Well?" He crossed his arms in front of his chest as Dorumon and Gatomon took their places back by his side. The other three Digimon and the two Tamers all tilted their heads in confusion as they caught sight of the expectant looks on their friends' faces.

"Well what?" Terriermon asked.

"We're waiting on your explanation." The blue eyed slayer of Lucemon replied. "I was gone from the Real World for three whole years and despite it being said that Digimon have been popping up here in the Elemental Nations for a while, you guys have never showed up until recently. So, explain."

"Well...what do you want to know?" Terriermon asked.

"Everything." Was the answer from the blonde and his two Digimon partners.

"Geez, I can see the vein in your forehead. Momentai, before it actually pops." The rabbit-dog Digimon's chuckle immediately died down as he saw that the three before him were not amused at all by his attempt to lighten the mood. "Sorry."

"Well, after we thought you all had died after your fight with Lucemon, it turned out that things would still end up going haywire because of some imbalance brought about from when we were fighting the D-Reaper. In order to fix it, the Digimon all had to go back to the Digital World." Takato started.

"And that lasted for how long?" Dorumon asked. "Seeing as how you guys are all back together, it couldn't have been long."

"About a couple months, almost an entire year from what I can remember." Henry answered. "We had held a bit of an anniversary of your death in Guilmon's shed, but we had managed to find a Digital Portal in the back of the shed."

"I found it." The goggle-wearing Tamer corrected his blue haired friend. "There was no 'we'."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Fine, Takato found it. You happy?"

"Yes." Henry planted his face in his palms and groaned.

"Why I am still friends with you, I'll never know."

"Just like how many licks it takes to the tootsie roll centre of a tootsie pop?" Guilmon asked with childish glee. His golden eyes then brightened as he turned to Takato. "OH! OH! OH! Takatomon, I want a tootsie pop to figure it out! Do they have bread flavoured tootsie pops?!"

The holder of the Digital Hazard was met with silence from all sides, blank stares meeting his excited expression. Everyone turned away from the red scaled raptor, a look of hurt now crossing said raptor's face. Guilmon's ears fell and he released a whine of disappointment as he was so blatantly ignored. Takato patted his fire spewing partner on the head, but there was no actual feeling to console him behind the head pat.

Takato pulled a piece of bread out of his weapons pouch for such Guilmon-related emergencies, tossing it to the golden eyed Rookie. His eyes regained that sparkle of happiness, but just as he was about impale it on his claws, a purple and white blur snatched it right out of Takato's hands.

"Good feeling's gone." Tears comically flowed from Guilmon's eyes like a waterfall as he saw that the X-Antibody holder had been the thief that was currently feasting on the delicacy.

"Gotta say, I missed having bread." Dorumon smiled as he continued to eat. "Takato saves lives."

"It's...what I do?" The brown eyed boy replied with an unsure tone. "But yeah, as we were saying, it had only been about a year after the Digimon had left that they had come back. With them coming back however, the Digital Portals which had actually been closed after they had left began opening back up again. So, even though we were formally recognized as heroes and saviours of Shinjuku as the days went by, we still had every day life to handle."

"Hypnos recruited us as a special task force to handle any and all Digimon-related threats in case they couldn't handle it themselves." Renamon stated.

"From what I can remember, they never handled it themselves." Gatomon quipped.

"They got surprisingly competent over the course of these past three years." Terriermon said, shrugging his shoulders. "Though since we are a part of Hypnos, technically, our work is their work so when we handle stuff, they handle stuff by extension. Damn, that means all the credit for my work goes to Yamaki."

Naruto laughed at the mention of Yamaki. "Speakin' of that old hardass, how's he doing?"

"He and Riley got married."

Naruto, Dorumon and Gatomon pumped their arms high into the air. "Called it!" Their simultaneous exclamation caused many a sweatdrop to form.

"FINALLY! YES! HELL YEAH! IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME!"

The two sixteen year old Tamers and the three Digimon of their little squad all began to back away from the trio as they hugged each other and hopped around the hospital roof.

"You're...excited." Terriermon stated.

"Of course we are!" Dorumon exclaimed.

"This is immense news to us!" Gatomon added.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been wanting to find out if those two would ever tie the knot?!" Naruto yelled before he gripped the sides of his head, a gasp escaping his lips. "What if they have a kid?! It's been three years, do they have a kid? I NEED TO SEE A MINI-YAMAKI!"

"Can you imagine mini-Yamaki wearing his own pair of sunglasses and playing with a cigarette lighter?!" Dorumon laughed.

"I don't know why...but that is the most adorable image ever." Gatomon stated with a serious tone that was not fitting for such a humourous mood.

"Did...Did we break them?" Terriermon whispered to his Tamer as he watched the Kyuubi jinchuriki ecstatically talk about the idea of Yamaki and Riley having a child. The talk had immediately come to a close when Renamon spoke.

"Riley's actually been trying to talk to him about that, and well..." Three pairs of eyes focused on the bipedal fox with looks of complete and utter interest, motioning for her to go on. She sweatdropped before continued, "...it hasn't been showing any positive results yet."

Naruto and his Digimon partners all looked at Renamon with deadpan stares.

"I don't know how, but if I ever find a way back to the Real World...I'm kicking Yamaki's ass." Naruto said. Dorumon and Gatomon nodded in agreement.

"Actually...about that..." Takato reached into his card case and pulled out the Blue Card and handed it to Naruto. "Here."

"Why are you handing me your Blue Card?"

The maroon eyed teenager shook his head as he pushed it further in Naruto's direction. "It's not mine."

"It's yours, Naruto." Henry stated. Naruto, Dorumon and Gatomon all became silent, their eyes wide with shock as they looked at the rectangular piece of solidified data in Takato's hand. The blonde jinchuriki slowly reached over to it, his hand moving back and forth for a few moments as if it were almost afraid to touch the card. He then touched the card, his eyes widening even further when he found that it was real.

"H-H-How?"

"During the year we had been in the Digital World before returning to the Real World, the Sovereigns and Fanglongmon-sama had bestowed upon us the gift to ask them to grant us any wishes we had so long as it was within their power." Renamon explained.

"It was actually how we were able to go back in the first place." Guilmon informed the trio.

Renamon nodded in confirmation before continuing. "Aye, and as we were about to head into the Digital Portal to cross over into the Real World I had actually asked Fanglongmon-sama to grant my wish, which was...even if it was a long shot, but still in the realm of possibility...it was to have Fanglongmon-sama search across the dimensions of the world to see if you were still alive."

"Why would you do that?" Dorumon asked.

"For Rika." Those two words spoke volumes to the blonde as he stared in shock at the kitsune Digimon. "He searched and searched for a little over two years, and it was only a few days ago that he had managed to find you. He had the Digi-Gnomes summon us to the Digital World to inform us of this. We made it our mission to find you now that we knew you were alive, and to allow Dorumon and Gatomon to digivolve once more as tamed Digimon, he personally constructed that Blue Card for you."

"So..." Gatomon gained a perplexed look as she stared at the data construct. "...how would this allow us to get back to the Real World exactly?"

"According to Fanglongmon, when you three had defeated Lucemon, it also broke the Blue Card he had given to Naruto. The Blue Card acted as an anchor for Naruto to remain in our dimension, and so when Lucemon and the Blue Card died, without an anchor to keep him here, he was sent back to the Elemental Nations. Since you three were Valdeusmon at the time, you both ended up going along for the ride." Henry answered the feline Digimon.

"Though, the effect of you being slingshot-ed back to the Elemental Nations ended up connecting our dimensions to each other and so, in essence, the Elemental Nations and the Real World are linked together with the Digital World being in the centre of it all as a sort of intermediary." Takato said as he played with his scarf. "With that in mind, since the worlds are now linked, Fanglongmon can use the Blue Card he made for you out of his own data, to act as an anchor for him to retrieve you and send you back to the Digital World and then to the Real World."

"Narutomon can come back with us." Guilmon smiled.

The level of disbelief was so strong that it even made Kurama release a gasp from within Naruto's mindscape. He didn't even register that he had lost the feeling in his legs which resulted in him falling to his knees.

"We..." He looked at Digimon partners. "We can go back."

"Of course, we were being realistic when we thought about whether or not you'd actually want to go back to the Real World. We will support and accept any decision you make, Naruto." Takato and Henry said.

"And what did Rika-chan say?" Naruto asked.

"She would want nothing more than to have you come back with her to the Real World, but she was the one that made the decision to let you go if you chose to stay." Renamon spoke before giving the son of the Yellow Flash a small smile. "She wants nothing more than for you to be happy because you are deserving of such a life in her eyes."

"She...She really said that?" He asked.

"Indeed." The tallest of the Rookies replied. "She loves you, Naruto...and this just shows how much she does."

"I believe the saying 'if you love something, set I free' applies here." Terriermon chuckled.

He blinked his eyes rapidly as his vision began to blur, tears welling up in his eyes. "That stubborn girl. Giving me a choice...totally unlike her." He released a mixture of a choked sob and a chuckle. "She must really hate me for leaving her for so long."

Dorumon and Gatomon rested their claws on his shaking shoulders. "You won't have to make the decision to leave any time soon, but we're with you...'til the end of the line."

A few minutes passed as Naruto just remained kneeling atop the roof of the hospital, struggling and, in the end, failing to stop the tears of emotion from falling. He held the Blue Card close to his chest, as if it were a lifeline. He had remained strong, his immense will having held him together. His training on Uzushio and everything that happened over the past 9 days since he returned to the mainland had served as a distraction from everything else he was feeling, but after being told the words of the fiery haired girl whom he loved unconditionally...three years of pent up emotion was being released into the open for all to witness.

Once his sobs had died down, Dorumon rubbed his Tamer's back. "You good?"

Naruto wiped his eyes and nose, and nodded. "Y-Yeah. Sorry. This...This is a lot to take in."

Everyone nodded in understanding. Finding out he was an A-Ranked criminal in the eyes of the Elemental Nations, Digimon popping up out of nowhere, suddenly seeing Rika Nonaka after three years only to have her appear on death's door after not even a single minute after seeing her, hearing that entire explanation concerning Fanglongmon's Blue Card...it truly was a lot to digest.

"I...I need to think about this. I had a plan in the beginning since I never thought I'd actually be able to go back to Shinjuku at all, and I had change it to suit because of things that happened...but now..." Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair. "...I just don't know anymore."

"How about this?" Dorumon suggested. "We go to the Kazekage Tower and ask Kakashi for those details regarding Gaara's whereabouts. We find and rescue Gaara, we kill Sasori and then when all's said and done...we take the time to figure out what we should do? Sound good, my wittle bwonde baby?"

"Fuck you." Naruto laughed lightly as he batted Dorumon's tail, the rear appendage being used to playfully swipe itself across his face to irritate him. "But yeah, sounds like a plan. Thanks."

"Any time, bro." Dorumon curled his claws inwards to form a makeshift fist before bumping it with Naruto's own. The X-Antibody Digimon then hopped onto Naruto's back while Gatomon took her place atop his head. "Now then, I do believe we have a damned piece of puppet shit to find."

---

Void of Reclusion, Northern Quadrant, Digital World

The Master's orange eyes shone with an eerie glow, an aspect which only showed itself when he drew upon his powers as a Digimon. To peer through the spaces in the fabric of space-time was something he excelled at. Digimon that could bend time and warp space were only found at the Mega level, but even those Digimon were mere Baby Digimon when it came to what he could accomplish. To be able to manipulate those two primary aspects of the world was a quite a feat, but to gaze into their depths, to view what had been and what will be was a power that not many possessed.

"Is everything in place, Commander?" The sound of space warping echoed throughout the realm of blackness as VenomMyotismon stepped into the void. The towering demonic Digimon placed himself on bended knee with a victorious smirk.

"As you have commanded, Master. The Datamon have been able to remain discrete and have reported that they are beginning to hack into the systems that were assigned to. Team Alpha has just begun to try and find a backdoor into the JSDF's systems to gain the information on their weapons, specifically their nuclear protocols, however they are finding it troublesome."

"While it annoys me, it is to be expected of them. The humans have improved upon their abilities to fight off viral programs with their firewalls and antiviruses, and they have even found ways to alter strings of code within specific time frames so as to further protect their data in its entirety." The Master sighed. "I will require frequent updates on their progress to take Japan's weapons."

"Of course."

"What is the Team Beta's progress?"

VenomMyotismon's four golden eyes gained a malicious glint within them, his facial muscles pulling to form an equally malicious, fanged grin. "They have reported to have been successful in their infiltration, but Hypnos's own digital defenses are just as strong as the JSDF's. It is concerning that the humans are so well protected. I must admit, Master, the Real World has gone to great lengths to reach into what has been dubbed the technological age. Given what destructive humans are capable of with the ability to read code and simple access to the internet, it is no surprise that they have gone to such lengths to protect the information they have stored within their hard drives."

"Indeed, but not even mere antiviral programs can only do so much against a coordinated attack from Digimon, especially a team of Datamon." The Master released a small chuckle. "Managing to enter the system of Hypnos was the first phase of Team Beta's assigned task. Are the preparations made for the next part of Team Beta's operation?"

"Yes, Master. AncientTroiamon is already moving in to transport them further into the system, and even if they are recognized as the trojan horse program that they are, AncientTroiamon will provide sufficient firepower to protect them until they have completed their task." VenomMyotismon then looked at the orange eyed Digimon with a puzzled expression. "Though, Master, how it is that you are capable of wrenching free such ancient data from this quadrant. True, Lucemon's data was just as ancient, but to be able to resurrect even the Ten Legendary Warriors that forced him to flee to the Southern Quadrant is beyond impressive."

"The Void of Reclusion is the physical representation in the Digital World to what the humans refer to as the 'Recycle Bin'. Data that is to be deleted is sent here, and it is why even though the majority of my data had been taken from me when Ryo Akiyama defeated me and it was sent into his Monodramon, the little amount of data that held my consciousness performed the miracle of surviving. Here. In this void." The bodiless spirit glanced around the empty, black world. "I took the data from here to reform myself, but I also managed to take data from other Digimon...ancient Digimon. When a Digimon is deleted and sent here, fragments of code manage to remain, which is why like in the Real World, when a human trashes data into the Recycle Bin, they are capable of bringing it back. Once they know how, of course. I supplied the same principle, and I found the ancient codes that were for the Ten Legendary Warriors."

"Master, you truly are astounding. With the Ten Legendary Warriors by our side, we can..."

"Do not be foolish, Commander!" The Virus type Mega flinched from the harsh tone of his superior. "The Ten Legendary Warriors are indeed powerful, but for all their power, they are no match for the powers of the Sovereigns and Fanglongmon. The Tamers and their Digimon partners have proven themselves time and time again to be capable of fending off powerful foes, and while the weaker members of their group are all that remains in the Real World, they are still a very real threat. I will summon the Legendary Warriors out for battle when the time is ripe, but to do so now would be a waste for should even one of them fall in a battle against the Tamers in the Real World they will truly be dead and it would be a deadly blow to my plans."

"I...I understand, my Master."

"Good. Now then...initiate Team Beta's phase two."

---

Hypnos HQ, Shinjuku City, Japan, Real World

The air within the boardroom office was extremely tense. Said tensity was so thick it could be cut with Leomon's sword, and a small and very curious part of the lion Digimon was actually tempted to try it. However, that sense of curiosity was completely over-ridden by the curiosity he felt towards a certain brown haired Tamer and his Monodramon.

"Alright, I've already been briefed on the battle involving the four Devidramon from your Digimon." Yamaki said as he habitually played with his cigarette lighter. "You kids did pretty well to restrict the damage to such a small area of Shinjuku, while also preventing any casualties."

"Yeah, we got good at actually minding our surroundings when we fight." Kazu and Kenta bumped fists with each other.

"Tis a knight's duty to protect the weak and the innocent from danger." Guardromon quipped. Yamaki rolled his eyes beneath his sunglasses, but a smirk managed to crack its way onto his face. The mechanical Champion Digimon's chivalry humourously knew no bounds.

"Now, onto the topic at hand and the reason for this sudden meeting." All eyes were directed at Ryo and Monodramon, the duo now shifting nervously beneath the harsh stares from their comrades. "From what Leomon, Guardromon and MarineAngemon told me, in addition to what their Tamers also told me, one of the Devidramon said you were from the Eastern Quadrant's section of the Digital World. Is that correct?"

Ryo bit his lip and he could feel the older man's stare intensify despite his eyes not even being visible. The brown haired boy yielded to the might of Yamaki's stare, nodding in confirmation.

"Are you from the Easter Quadrant and its parallel Earth?"

"Yes." He replied. Yamaki leaned back in his chair before opening one of the manila file folders laid out before him.

"We looked through our data banks upon hearing that you were from an entirely different Earth and its corresponding quadrant of the Digital World. From what we know, or at least, what we are aware of...the Eastern Quadrant is synchronized with the digital portals normally found in the Earth found on the Digimon Adventure and Digimon 02 television shows. Upon learning that, we took a little trip to the internet and looked you up." Yamaki opened up another file revealing pages of information and a thumbnail image of him attached to them by a paperclip.

"Ryo Akiyama is a fictional character crafted by the creators of the Digimon franchise to be part of their line of video games." The brown haired teenager and his Digimon partner winced as the other Tamers and their Digimon looked at their friends.

"You mean...they aren't real?" Leomon asked.

"In the Eastern Quadrant I was as real as I am to you guys."

"Did you know about what you were when you appeared on this parallel Earth?" Guardromon asked.

"No. I mean, I didn't think to do that sort of thing and I decided to just be a normal kid for as long as I could before I had to go back to the Digital World because somebody was going on a rampage around areas of the quadrant." The drill-like clawed dragon chuckled nervously as he received a glare from his Tamer. "But when I was watching television one time, and the re-runs for the Digimon shows came up...well...let's just say having an existential crisis at such a young age wasn't something I had planned when I got to this world."

"It was pretty shocking." The dragon Rookie added.

"Understatement of the century." Everyone commented.

"You're telling us." Monodramon released a hollow laugh. "I mean, it was one thing when we had been warped into the Southern Quadrant of the Digital World, but to find out that you're seen as a part of pop-culture fiction is a complete separate world...that's just fucking trippy."

"If what you found on the internet is true, then things concerning what is happening to the Digimon that resulted in them beginning to launch coordinated attacks will become a lot more complicated." Ryo said as he pointed at the papers Yamaki had before him. The CEO crossed his fingers in front of his face as he propped his arms up by his elbow.

"I have my theories, but when it was reported that the Devidramon said you fought their Master, there was only one Digimon of interest found. But if the real person is before me with their Digimon, then I'd rather hear it straight from the horse's mouth so to speak. So please enlighten us as to what exactly happened that resulted in a two-dimensional character ending up here in our three-dimensional world by crossing the boundaries of space and time over an entire quadrant to another."

"I don't really see what the big deal is about my dimension hopping." Ryo pulled at his red scarf uneasily. "I mean, we have the Digimon. Not to mention Naruto, who is from a completely different dimension all-together..."

"We're not talking about Naruto!" Yamaki snapped. "You have been keeping a lot of secrets from us, even after all these years of being here in our world. Now start talking before I start making my own conclusions. And seeing as how my own conclusions led to the formation of a giant rip in the sky four years ago allowing for Ultimate level Deva Digimon to break through and wreak havoc, you do not want to know what my own conclusions will be for you and Monodramon."

Ryo and Monodramon gulped audibly before raising their hands in a placating manner.

"Alright, we'll talk." Monodramon said. The purple draconian Rookie sighed, scratching his head in thought. "Ok, well...Ryo met me as Cyberdramon, and well you know how I was as Cyberdramon. I can't remember most of what happened in that time when the Digidestined were captured, so...Ryo?"

"Gee, thanks for the help partner." The Eastern Quadrant Tamer rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Alright, well...it's a pretty long story."

"We'll get through what we can in the time we have. If anything, I can schedule other meetings for you to complete your tales, but first...let's start at the beginning."

Ryo ran a hand through his hair, releasing a tired sigh. "Alright. When everything went down, I was actually not that much older than Tai and the others, being about 11."

"So this event occurred 5 years ago?"

"Well, yes and no. Yes, I am 16 now, or at least physically. I was fourteen when I came to this world, and I guess jumping through time and space made me regress by a few years. Ugh, dimension hopping makes my head hurt." He gritted his teeth, pulling at his hair so hard that it seemed as if he would wrench it free from his scalp. However, the emotion and adrenalin began to leave him causing the boy to blink in confusion when found himself encased in a heart-shaped bubble.

MarinAngemon hovered in front of him, her large green eyes meeting his brown ones. "Breathe." She said with a calming smile. Ryo did as he was told, taking a deep breath to calm himself. As he finished exhaling, MarineAngemon popped the bubble before giving the boy a peck on the cheek.

"Good boy." She said.

"Thanks. I needed that." The winged Mega gave a mock salute with her flipper before hovering back over to Kenta. but the thing is...before I came here, it was 2001 in my world. But everything involving Milleniummon began on December 31st, 1999."

Everyone's eyes widened at the duo before them.

"Wow." The other Digimon and Jeri whispered in awe.

"So does that mean you're older than us? If you were 11 in 1999, then that would make you...ummm, 2013 now so...1...2..." Kenta paused to go through the numbers of his fingers.

"If he were back in the Eastern Quadrant Earth, he'd be 25." Kazu rapped his glasses wearing friend on the noggin. "You really suck at mental math, bro."

"Shut up. I'm gonna be a doctor, not a mathematician."

Yamaki turned and snapped his fingers. Through some magical power (air of authority), the two boys were silenced. The dirty blonde haired man motioned for the younger boy to continue.

"So, I'm 11. It's December 31st, 1999. That's established." Ryo clarified, his words met with nods of understanding from the others in the room. "So, life was pretty good. I lived with my parents in a comfortable two-story house and I had my video games to play. I was chatting online with some friends, but then all of a sudden we got a blackout. It was kinda weird too because when I checked outside my window, everyone else's lights and the street lights were working fine. Kaa-chan thought it was something with the fuse-box and told me to go and check it out. Before I could do so, however, I heard a voice call out to me from my computer displaying a machine that I'd never seen before."

"A Digivice?" Jeri asked.

"On the nose. Takato's lucky to have a bright girl like you with him." Jeri giggled at the compliment.

"Oi, no flirting with our bro's girlfriend." Kazu said as he and Kenta stood protectively in front of the busty teenager. Leomon fingered the hilt of his blade, baring his fangs at the older boy. Ryo and Monodramon were quick to shift their seats away from the scary Champion Digimon, but then they caught the incredulous look given to them by MarineAngemon.

"Ryo-chan, does that mean that...you listened to the voice from your computer?" The diminutive Mega asked. "From what I've seen in you humans' horror and suspense films, listening to disembodied voices does not tend to end well."

"She's got a point." Everyone, including Monodramon, stated as they all looked at the brown eyed boy.

"I was eleven! I didn't know any better, like extremely naive! Why do you think I followed it's plea for me to touch the device?!" Ryo exclaimed as he waved his arms wildly. "And do you know what happened after that?! I end up in the middle of a bloody forest and met up with Tai's Agumon. Agumon told me that the DigiDestined had been captured and that the very essence of time had been warped in order to resurrect previous defeated evil Digimon like Devimon and Myotismon."

"And you understood what was happening?" Yamaki asked.

"I couldn't even understand my Japanese Language homework, and you think I could understand this stuff?" The CEO of Hypnos sweatdropped at the reply. "I thought I was having a nightmare or experiencing hallucinations from playing too much video games."

"What'd you be playing to hallucinate Digimon? 1999 was not exactly the pinnacle of gaming." Kenta said. Ryo stuck his tongue out and pulled down the skin underneath his eye, behaving the like the mature Digimon Tamer that was obviously suited to take over as leader in Takato's absence. Note the sarcasm.

"Do you know what caused the time warp?" Yamaki asked, getting back onto the topic of Ryo's story.

Ryo nodded. "Agumon told me that I ended up being summoned because of a terribly powerful and evil Digimon called Milleniummon."

"Milleniummon?" Cue confused head tilts.

"Yup. Millenniummon is quite possibly one of the most powerful Digimon to ever exist. What Lucemon did to your city, even if Naruto wasn't here to stop it with Dorumon and Gatomon, it wouldn't hold a candle to what Milleniummon can do. Lucemon may be the commander of the seven Demon Lords and capable of standing up against even Fanglongmon, but Millenimmon can literally move through time and space and manipulate them like they are his playthings." Ryo shuddered, a look of pure, unadulterated fear forming on his face. "I had no choice but to help Agumon fight against Milleniummon and the Digimon he had under his control as well, if only to ensure my own survival. The Kuwagamon that the DigiDestined Rookies beat, and the Shellmon that Agumon fought when he first became Greymon were my first two opponents and I got injured trying to escape. It was a real wake-up call that the entire situation was not a dream."

"I'll say. Escaping from two Champion level Digimon of those sizes...you really need divine luck." MarineAngemon stated.

"Divine luck indeed." Ryo agreed. "I befriended a lot of Digimon along the way as I began the quest with Agumon to free the DigiDestined. Leomon, Andromon, Piximon, and even the DigiDestined Digimon partners themselves. We went through every single major enemy they fought: Devimon, Etemon, Myotismon, and even the Dark Masters. In the end, while we didn't fight Milleniummon himself in his true form, something that I would end up doing later in the year 2000 after that whole fiasco with Diaboromon wanting to instigate nuclear war, but instead we ended up fighting his two halves. Kimeramon and Machinedramon. We won after a really fierce battle, and then after saying our goodbyes, I went home."

"But if you won, how'd Milleniummon come back?" Jeri asked. "If you deleted Kimeramon and Machinedramon then..."

"The thing about Milleniummon that you need to understand, Jeri, is that he is an eternal existence. He cannot be killed, deleted...he can't be beaten. And yet even when events occur that make you think he has..." Ryo glanced at Monodramon, an act which made many raise their eyebrows. "I have fought him a total of four times, and each time I nearly died in the process of earning victory."

"But you had Cyberdramon didn't you?" Jeri asked with a worried expression. He shook his head.

"Not until my fourth and final battle did I meet Monodramon. The other times, I had made some random allies with Digimon, and the DigiDestined had my back too which really helped a lot." Ryo frowned deeply. "If Milleniummon truly is back, then it's obvious his plan is to destroy the Digital World."

"You've beaten him time and time again, are you sure this is just a simple revenge scheme?" The shades wearing CEO asked.

"Of course it is!" The sixteen year old rose out of his chair and slammed his hands on the board meeting table. "It's always been his game! Kill me and destroy the Digital World! You have the information about what I've done since my escapades are seen as fiction here in your world, you know what's happened!"

"That's true." The electronics genius replied as he looked at the files. "The Anode/Cathode Tamer game shows your origins as a hero. Tag Tamers depicts your fight alongside Ken Ichijouji. The D-1 Tamers showed you had to fight against a different form of Milleniummon known as Moon-Millenimmon, and Brave Tamers spoke of your final battle. You met Monodramon in this final part of the game saga and then, for unknown reasons, chose to venture here instead of going back to your world. However, the game is different now, Ryo."

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Ryo yelled, his face turning red with rage and frustration. "YOU DON'T KNOW HIM LIKE I DO! I'VE SEEN WHAT HE DOES AND WHAT HE CAN DO, AND HE WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO WIN!"

"Ryo, calm down!" The golden eyed Rookie placed his claws on his Tamer's shoulder and forced him back down into his chair. "What do you mean the game is different?"

"If Milleniummon truly is back, then I will agree that it is possible that he wishes to take revenge on Ryo for defeating him so many times. However, the reason I say it is different is because Milleniummon is targeting outside of the Digital World. If Milleniummon truly wanted to simply destroy the Digital World, then the Digital World would already be destroyed and would have moved on to attacking you and Ryo, but he hasn't done that. He's created organized attacks, planned strategies and all of them involve Digimon that are capable of working together, something which is throwing a wrench into our normal responses to Digimon attacks."

"That's pretty much what Kazu told us when we fought the Devidramon last night." Guardromon recalled. "From what I can find in my data banks, the tactics employed by the Devidramon are most common with diversions. Striking at a populated area to generate mass panic and hysteria which would keep out attention."

"It was to draw me out so they could kill me." Ryo said. "There's nothing else to that tactic they used."

"Don't make yourself the centre of the universe just because your old enemy is back." Yamaki snapped his cigarette lighter closed. "You're a leader, so act like it. Keep calm and analyze the situation. If the Devidramon attack was made to be a diversion, what would it be to distract us from seeing?"

Not even a few moments passed from their attempts to try and solve the mystery before the doors burst open to reveal Tally. The young brown haired woman was panting heavily, and she was in such a panicked state that the eye visor she wore was a bit off-set on her face.

"Yamaki...oh good, the kids are here too! We need you down in the computer room ASAP!"

"We'll discuss this at a later time. For now, let's move. He ordered as he sprung out of his chair and quickly exited the room. Tally, the Tamers and their Digimon all followed after the head of Hypnos as they all crowded into the elevator, descending to the computer room's level. "Tally, walk and talk! What happened?!"

"We don't know how, but a trojan horse got in through a back door in our systems!" Tally replied.

"Impossible." Yamaki growled. "I wrote the code for the entire computer system in this building, and I upgraded it ever since the fiasco involving the Juggernaut-X programme three years ago. What's Riley doing?"

"Riley-chan's doing her best to hold off the viruses from reaching too far into the system, but she can't hold them off forever."

"Have you run a diagnostics scan to see what it is? Can you trace it back to an IP address for the stubborn little hacker who dared to break into my company's system?"

"We have run a diagnostics scan, but there was no IP address to trace it back to." Tally replied as her fingers flew over the touch-screen device in her hands. "No one in the world in good enough to break into Hypnos without us knowing, so that could only mean that the viruses came from inside the system itself. Almost as if there was something already in there."

A small 'beep' came from the touch-screen device as she tapped it a few times. A holographic screen was then projected in front of her face. The brown haired woman handed her visor over to Yamaki as she handed her boss the tablet so he could see the results of the diagnostics scan.

"Digimon? You're telling me that mere Digimon are breaking through my system's security protocols and is giving my wife a hard time?" Yamaki adjusted his dark lenses as the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. The small group exited the elevator and ran over to the main screen as Riley was busy in her hoverchair typing on a holographic keyboard, generating code faster than most experienced hackers could ever dream of doing.

"Mitsuo, quickly! They're breaking down my defenses faster than I can make them!"

Yamaki nodded to his wife before throwing the visor from Tally back to her. "Tally, hold this!"

"Hold wh-OI THIS IS EXPENSIVE!" The young computer programmer released a yelp of surprise at the object headed her way, bouncing it around in her hands before finally securing it in a tight grip. She released a sigh of relief as she clutched her precious visor before placing it back on her face and took her place in her own anti-graviton emitting seat to once again help Riley to combat whatever Digimon was hacking them.

"This is the same program Shibumi and the other Monster Makers had helped create from your first trip to the Digital World to rescue that creampuff Digimon. Of course, it's been upgraded to synchronize with your D-Arks and Blue Cards." Yamaki pressed the 'Enter' key on the keyboard in front of the large main monitor. "Just hold them up to the monitor and your Blue Cards will do the rest."

The Tamers did as they were told, pulling the manifestation of miracles out of their card cases before holding it up in front of the monitor as instructed. The cards shone like sapphires before a pulse of pixels erupted forth from the main monitor, a digital portal swirling to life.

"Let's go!" Ryo exclaimed.

"OSU!"

And with that, the Tamers and their Digimon leaped through the portal without hesitation, prepared to fight.

---

Tawa no Kuni, Elemental Nations

"So you're one of the Digimon that popped up here?" Naruto asked.

"Yup." BlackAgumon replied.

"Are you disappointed that you didn't end up in the Real World instead of the Elemental Nations?"

"Can't complain, but I do think I'll get stronger here instead of the Real World."

"He's got a point." Henry, Takato and the Tamer Digimon all commented.

"That he does, however, what I don't understand is how out of the entire population of an entire shinobi village you somehow found the teme to be your Tamer. Explain that to me."

"He wants power. I want power. That's all there was too it really." BlackAgumon shrugged. "But while he's being awfully stubborn about accepting the D-Ark and the Blue Card, I'm sure he'll come around eventually."

"You're surprisingly optimistic about that." Dorumon said.

"Who else will?" The green eyed Rookie shrugged.

"You bring up a very good point."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here." Sasuke spoke with annoyed tone as he glanced back at the Shinobi-Tamer and the Rookie Digimon.

"We aren't. We're perfectly aware of your existence, but you're not part of this conversation so there is no need to speak as if you were." BlackAgumon replied.

"Don't make me kill you, gecko." Sasuke threatened as he held onto his chokuto's hilt.

"I won't." The green eyed Digimon gave his non-accepting Tamer a toothy smile.

"First Dorumon, now this guy." Terriermon muttered. "Why does everyone want to take my spot as resident group smartass?"

"Terriermon, it's rude to call other Digimon smartasses. Also, can you stop calling yourself that?"

"But I am Henry!" Terriermon whined.

"No, you're not. And I don't need your ego to triple the size of your ears just because you think you're the greatest smartass to walk the face of the Earth."

"So you admit I'm a smartass?"

A vein in the blue haired Tamer's forehead pulsed as he held up a shaking fist. "Terriermon, I will hit you."

"Threatening poor, defenseless Rookie Digimon is rude, Henry."

Naruto and his Digimon partners laughed at the interaction between the two. They never realized how much up until now, but Naruto and Dorumon really did miss their students.

"I never expected you to be a sensei of all things, Naruto." Temari said as she hopped through the trees alongside the blue eyed jinchuriki.

"I'll say. You were a short, loud-mouthed brat, what the hell did you teach them?" Kankuto chuckled.

"Well I'm taller than all of you now, and I'll have you know I was a good sensei." Naruto grinned. "Well I never expected Gaara to be Godaime Kazekage, and I never expected you two to be a part of WIND." Naruto replied as he pointed to the two other members of WIND.

The WIND shinobi wore garb similar to that of an ANBU member, except the body armour they wore was coloured tan rather than grey. They also wore different types of headdresses which had pieces of lengthy cloth attached to them to be wrapped around the lower portion of their faces, though that was only present on the male members of the WIND squad which accompanied them. The female members wore what looked like a niqab and hijab, the cloth that women in the Real World's middle eastern countries would wear.

"Hey Temari, don't they feel hot in those things? Is that why you don't wear one even though you're a WIND member?"

"We live in an arid climate, Naruto. Compared to back in the village, out here is a drastic temperature switch so they'll be fine." Temari replied. "But while I am a member of WIND, I'm not an active member. I was only enlisted because I had to receive the proper training to be recognized as a part of Gaara's personal guard. A lot of good that did us seeing as how Gaara ended up having to fight by himself." had to go through the same thing "We've also come to see a lot of things we didn't expect."

"I'll say." The green eyed blonde chuckled. "How did you even manage to get them to partner up with you?"

"I'm charismatic like that."

"While it does feed ego, we will admit that he does have a way with words." Gatomon patted her Tamer on the head on which she was perched on. "Though, you are taking this really well."

"I'm more focused on rescuing my little brother at the moment. I'm pretty sure I'll probably have some form of breakdown after this is all over though."

"You probably shouldn't." Dorumon said with a laugh at Temari's rather sarcastic sense of humour. "I think your brothers and your fellow Sunagakure shinobi like you better as a sane person."

"We're here!" Pakkun barked from his position at the head of the party. All members of the Kazekage rescue party came to a halt, hidden within the shadows of the treeline which overlooked one of the many rivers that flowed through Tawa no Kuni's many rocky valleys. On the opposite side of the river, embedded into the rock was a very large boulder that lay within a red torii.

"Hinata." The female users immediately responded to Kakashi's words.

"Byakugan/White Eye!"

'Woah!' The Digimon, Takato and Henry watched with awe...and a little bit of disgust as the veins in Hinata's temples suddenly bulged, becoming more prominent along with the area where the pupil would have been in her pupil-less eyes. The chakra which flowed through her system and into her eyes brought her visual prowess to life, and the world around her was suddenly as if someone had made an X-Ray for everything.

"No chakra signatures, but there is movement by the gate that's underneath the water." Hinata zoomed in on the sources of movement. "There are about five, but they are odd looking creatures. They are probably Digimon."

"On it." Takato and Henry went to pull out his D-Ark and scan them, and this time it was the shinobi who were all surprised. The screens on the golden D-Ark and green D-Ark both glowed with blue light before the holographic screen appeared, revealing the images of the Digimon below.

"What is that?" Chiyo asked. The elderly puppet master was quite fascinated with the gadget.

"It's kind of like a scanner that identifies different Digimon, and it's the trademark for people like us. Digimon Tamers." Naruto explained before looking over the images. "Ok, so first up we have Whamon. That would be the one that looks like a giant whale, Hinata."

"I have it." The Hyuga heiress nodded as she focused on the Digimon that most resembled the aquatic mammal.

Everyone else focused on the holographic image on Henry's D-Ark. The massive Digimon was large enough to be classified as boss summon size, or at least one level below that. Its flesh was blue and covered with scars and tears, especially its flippers and tail fin, as if it had been through numerous battles with flesh eating creatures. The majority of the upper half of its body was covered in a black covering that even went so far as to cover the entire frontal part of its large maw so the teeth were encased in the hard, black covering. Its teeth, unlike a normal whale's which were like bristles on a toothbrush, were sharp and prepared to rend flesh from bone.

"Whamon is an Ultimate level Digimon. It lives in the deepest part of the Net Ocean in the Digital World, and has a large build. Its enormity is of the highest class in the Digital World, and due to that enormity, it carries a volume of data that couldn't be processed by a normal computer." Henry read from his D-Ark. "Its attacks are Jet Arrow, which shoots a jet of water from its blowhole, and Tidal Wave. You guess what that attack does from its name alone."

"When you explained to us that these Digimon were like summons, I expected things like these guys." Kankuro gestured to the Tamer Digimon. "But seriously, what the fuck? And that thing is monstrous in size, it's like a boss summon."

"Well it gets better with MetalSeadramon." Takato said as he showed everyone the image of a serpentine creature.

Its body was covered entirely with metal, its underside being silver and its overside being a mixture of jade and gold. Its flippers and fins looked to be as sharp as the sharpest kunai knives. Its lower body which branched out to form two tails with diamond-shaped tips. Said tips were primarily coated with the greenish-gold metal, but the tips of the diamonds were silver. A mane of black hair emerged from the helmet armour. The helmet armour appeared to have three layers, two of those layers having what appeared to be vents carved into the sides, and was equipped with a sharp horn, with two circles and a triangle carved out, on the forehead area and what looked like the mouth of a cannon on its snout. The D-Ark had the metal encased Digimon's jaws wide open to display its sharp teeth, and its eyes were as red as blood.

"MetalSeadramon is a Mega level." Takato read from his D-Ark. "Its Metal Body reflects every attack due to being encased in Chrome Digizoid. Furthermore, it has the fastest speed of movement among aquatic Digimon. MetalSeadramon was remodeled as a Digimon for use in interception under the sea. Through this, it was completed as a Digimon for use in land, sea, and sky interception. It constricts its opponents with Hot Squeeze and summons a tidal wave with Poseidon's Divide, but its most powerful attack is River of Power which fires a blast of energy from the energy cannon positioned at its snout."

"How does something prepared for underwater combat get prepared for land and sky interception? And an energy cannon on its snout?" Shikamaru voiced everyone's confused thoughts. "Kakashi-sensei, what do we even begin to do?"

"Hinata, do you see anything else other than those five down there?" Kakashi asked as the gears in his head began to turn.

Hinata shook her head. "No. Only 2 Whamon and the 3 MetalSeadramon."

"Is there any sort of safeguard on the gateway into the Akatsuki hideout?"

"Five seal tags placed in a pentagonal shape."

"Pentagonal shape?" Naruto asked. "Then it's a basic pentagram Fuuinjutsu formula. Since it's a protection seal for a gateway, it's most likely Fuuinjutsu: Gopointo Gogyou Fuuin/Sealing Technique: Five Point Elemental Seal. But what's special about that seal is that rather than using fire, water, earth, wind and lightning, the elements of wind and lightning are replaced with wood and metal which are far more structurally sound in order to make up for elemental capability. I'll admit, that's pretty smart."

"You know Fuuinjutsu?" Shikamaru asked. "That's supposed to be the most complex and theoretical knowledge based branch of a shinobi's repertoire. I thought you had ADHD and dyslexia?"

"I'm not dyslexic, though I'm not too sure about the ADHD. It would explain a lot though." Naruto murmured. "But yeah, I know Fuuinjutsu. I wasn't sitting on my ass doing nothing for the past four years since I was banished, and plus...I'm an Uzumaki. It's basically my birthright to know Fuuinjutsu."

"Naruto, you seem to know more than any of us at this point." Kakashi replied as he pulled his ANBU mask from his hip and placed it over his face. "As commanding officer of this mission, I order you to give us orders."

"You can't be serious?" Sasuke asked. "The dobe has not led a strike team at all in his life. Even if he does seem to know more about these Digimon and how to take them down, that does not make him qualified to give out orders."

"Well, here's the thing Sasuke." Kakashi looked at his former student. "I'll listen to Naruto's orders, and if they don't meet certain criteria that I personally place on my own act of order giving, then I'll make the necessary adjustments and we'll move on. It's that simple. Remember, you're still being judged and if you do anything that results in a death of a fellow shinobi or you try to run to Orochimaru...you have no escape from my blade."

Sasuke was silent after that.

"Hehe, let's go wild then." Naruto's eyes blazed with a fire that hadn't been seen since he fought Zabuza in his early Team 7 days. "Well, first off...what can you guys do?"

"We are Ka and En, part of the branch of WIND which specializes in demolition and explosions due to our mastery over Fuuton/Wind Release and Katon/Fire Release. Also, WIND members are trained in every aspect of the shinobi arts to make us more all-rounded in situations despite our specialized fields." Ka, the female WIND member explained.

"We will do whatever we can to help save Gaara-sama, even if it means our lives." En spoke, his deep voice muffled beneath the cloth.

"I'd rather it not come to that. Ka and En, you are to go with Shikamaru Nara, Henry Wong and Terriermon. Temari, Kankuro, En, you guys are gonna go with Takato Matsuki and Guilmon. You two teams are gonna distract and lead the guardian Digimon away from the gate in order to give my squad and I the time need to break down the seal and enter the base with Kakashi-sensei, Chiyo, Hinata Hyuga, Dorumon and Gatomon."

Naruto turned to the silver haired ANBU captain for approval.

"A good strategy to distract and destroy. However, since Ka and En have identical skill sets it is rather redundant in this case to have them on the same squads since this is a distract and destroy. So, while it will do well to have them together for a synergistic effect in terms of teamwork, that will change. Ka, you will leave will Shikamaru and Sasuke. En, you will go with Temari and Kankuro."

"Understood." The WIND members nodded stiffly.

"Ummm...no offense, Naruto, but your students don't look pretty capable." Kankuro admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"Oi!" Takato and Henry.

"I know."

"NARUTO!"

"They're Chunin level at best, not good enough to handle shinobi business the way they are now." Naruto replied before his trademark foxy grin formed on his face. "Guys, listen to me...when you're far away enough from the gate with whatever Digimon you guys have on your tails, you Bio-merge. Take charge at that point, give the people in your squad the orders needed to take those things down. After that, command switches to Shikamaru and Temari okay?"

Takato and Henry's eyes widened before they broke out into large grins that matched Naruto's. "Yes, Naruto-sensei!"

"Man, I missed being called that." Naruto ruffled their hair before climbing to his feet. "ALRIGHT! MOVE OUT!"

The order was met instantly and the groups split apart.

"Digi-modify...Hyper Wing Activate!" Takato swiped the card through his golden D-Ark as he fell to the river's surface. Data funneled through Guilmon's form and two silvery-white wings sprouted forth from the Rookie Digimon's back. The members of WIND hid their shock well, but Temari and Kankuro were a bit more open with their expressions. And by open, they were completely flabbergasted.

"I'm going to snap. I'm really going to snap." Temari muttered as she ran across the water with her chosen squad members.

"GOOD LUCK, HENRY!" Takato called out to the half-Chinese Tamer.

"WE DON'T NEED LUCK WHEN WE GOT SKILL!" Takato laughed at Henry's reply.

The roars of the Digimon that guarded the gates echoed through the cavernous valley before they split apart. One of the Whamon and a MetalSeadramon followed after Henry, Terriermon, Ka, Sasuke and Shikamaru. The remaining Whamon and the two other MetalSeadramon took their chances with Takato, Guilmon, En, Temari and Kankuro.

Once the two groups were far enough from the gate of Akatsuki's base, Naruto hopped down from his perch with Kakashi, Hinata and Chiyo falling after him. They landed atop the flowing river with barely a splash before Naruto ran up to the torii. He reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a small scroll which he unfurled. Placing his hand atop the storage seal formula, he pumped a small amount of chakra into it to bring forth his ink brush and ink.

All eyes watched with fascination as Naruto pulled out five separate seal tags, similar to the ones attached to the boulder.

"Fire beats Metal. Metal beats Wood. Wood beats Earth. Earth beats Water. Water beats Fire." He drew the kanji for the five elements, which was a rather meticulous task to do since even though they were single kanji, the fact he had to do it atop the ebb and flow of a river made it a bit more difficult than just writing on flat ground like he did when fought the BlackWarGreymon. Once he was satisfied with his work, he sealed away his ink and brush into the small storage scroll once again before he ran over to the boulder. "Hinata, I need you for this."

What is it, Naruto-kun?"

"With your Byakugan, tell me...do you see a pentagram-shaped series of chakra linkages connecting between the respective sealing tags?" He asked. The pale eyed heiress looked over the boulder, her eyes widening as she caught sight of the lines of blue energy that flowed through the boulder in the exact same manner that Naruto had described.

"Yes, there are."

"Good." He nodded before sticking to the boulder with chakra and climbed to where the uppermost tag was located "I need you to pinpoint the mid-point of each linkage for me. Now the Gopointo Gogyou Fuuin is positioned in this manner, starting from this one at the top and going in a clockwise direction: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water."

Hinata recited the order to herself for confirmation before nodding stiffly. She proceeded to point out each mid-point for Naruto as he placed the seal tags of the elements that would be required to defeat its weaker correspondent. Once the tags were in place, Naruto clapped his hands together and his chakra was directed into the seals.

"...Did...Did it work?" Chiyo asked.

"Hinata?" All eyes turned to the dark haired girl.

"It did. The chakra linkages are gone so the barrier has dropped."

Naruto grinned and formed a Kagebunshin, tossing it Gatomon's D-Ark and his newly acquired Blue Card. "Great. Now then...time to make an entrance. Dorumon, Gatomon...what do you say? Ultimate or Mega?"

"Do you think Sasori is worth a bio-merge or fighting Ophanimon?" Gatomon asked.

"At this point, I just want to see that puppet bitch burn." Naruto replied as his eyes flashed crimson.

"Then we'll make him suffer. Plus...I don't think he's worth the trouble of bothering us as Dorugoramon or Alphamon. It'll end far too quickly if he is."

"Ultimate it is."

Naruto swiped the Blue Card through Dorumon's silver-blue D-Ark before the clone did the same with Gatomon's bronze coloured one. Two words that the trio never thought they would ever hear again graced their ears and wide grins threatened to split their faces.

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION

"DORUMON WARP MATRIX DIGIVOLVE TO..."

Dorumon's body was suddenly appeared in what appeared to be liquid metal, acting in a manner similar to a cocoon. The metal twisted and changed, increasing in size and shape as data and power accumulated within. The metal casing then shattered apart as if it were made of glass to reveal the monstrous dragon within. Now a quadruped, the dragon stood atop four, strong legs. His tail was longer and appeared to twist along its length before being tipped with a massive golden spike of somesort. The X-Antibody Digimon's face had elongated, becoming much more reptilian in appearance and had a large blade sprouting forth from its snout. The dragon bore two pairs of steel coloured wings, the frontal pair being larger than the back pair. The lining of the wings was a darker shade of grey that the membrane, and five spiked golden rings lined the skin surrounding the membrane. The draconian beast's fur was a blood red with black zig-zag marking adorning it, but the nose, feet and underside were all a beautiful shade of white, just like the flowing mane that ran down its neck. Four steel, grey spikes jutted out from the Ultimate Digimon's neck, two on either side. Its feet each bore three black claws, and its jaws were lined with white teeth as sharp as swords. His snapped open to reveal the crimson irides which glowed with power along with the Old Interface in his forehead before he released a roar to the heavens.

"DORUGREYMON!"

"GATOMON MATRIX DIGIVOLVE TO..."

Gatomon's body glowed a bronze-gold colour as her body lengthened and became more humanoid. Her tail retracted into her body and her ears became small angelic wings which sprouted forth from a steel helmet that now masked her blue eyes and nose from view. Blonde hair that appeared to be like golden thread cascaded down her back like a waterfall of gold. A white outfit then materialized in a pulse of data to cover her previously naked form, leaving only a bit of her stomach and her thighs visible. Two wing-shaped cups covered her breasts like a makeshift bra, and a long pink ribbon with digicode printed across its length snaked its way around her arms. A pair of gloves stretched themselves all the way to her forearms. Her outfit was completed with a pair of boots in which the left looked like a regular high-heeled boot which appeared to be a continuation of the leotard-like body suit she was wearing, while the right boot appeared to be composed entirely out of feathers. Her tail ring now wrapped itself around her ankle before eight white, feathered wings sprouted forth from her back.

"ANGEWOMON!"

"By...By Kami-sama." Chiyo and Kakashi uttered softly, their eyes wide with a twinge of fear, but mostly amazement. Hinata was far too shocked to make a sound, staring up at the massive creatures before her.

The two Ultimate Digimon charged alongside their Tamer at full force. The poor boulder never even stood a chance as they speared through it like it wasn't even there, reducing it to rubble. Naruto stood at the forefront with his Digimon partners, his sapphire eyes cold and unforgiving. With rage in his eyes and fire in his blood, the seventeen year old uttered two words that would have put the fear of Fanglongmon in any normal being...

"Where's Sasori?"

---

(A/N: And that's it. I wrote a chapter for this story to sate you guys until I finish my exams on the 17th of December. I know it's a lot of exposition, but it was necessary. Don't worry, as you can tell, the next chapter will be action packed once I get to it.

I had a bit of a struggle making this though because I was unsure as to whether or not I should have had Naruto use his Megas, but then I began thinking about if I had him go Mega, if to use Alphamon or Dorugoramon. I mean, black knight wielding a massive sword or a humanoid dragon beast with claws cloaked in fire. In the end, I couldn't decide so I just went with Ultimate level. Hopefully you guys accept that.

Though concerning the act of Naruto using Ophanimon and his Bio-merge forms, I'm trying to think of an opportunity to bring that in, but I'm finding it a bit difficult to do with regard to canon arcs that don't involve either Itachi, Kisame or Nagato. Any suggestions for a canon arc other than Pein Arc? If so, tell me in your reviews or in a PM.

Remember to review, review, review!)